


Fractal The Future

by Fruipit, JessicaX



Series: Fractal The Futureverse [1]
Category: Back to the Future (Movies), Frozen (2013)
Genre: 1980s, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Attempted Sexual Assault, Car Sex, Copious Aimee Mann references, Cunnilingus, F/F, First Kiss, First Time, Incest, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Nipple Piercings, Time Travel, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2019-08-19 12:15:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 76,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16534382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fruipit/pseuds/Fruipit, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaX/pseuds/JessicaX
Summary: Anna McFly has felt distant from her depressed, alcoholic mother, Elsa, for the past few years. It's 2015 and she's a high school senior; she's willing to let that go and focus on her future with her band - and her friend-and-maybe-more, Jennifer Punzel. Until crazy old Doc Pabbie ropes her into a science experiment. What will she do when she travels back in time to 1985 and sees just how different Elsa was thirty years ago?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This story will contain coarse language, incestuous romance between a mother and daughter (even if they are the same age), and some brief smut. If you have a problem with any of those things, **DO NOT READ.**
> 
> NOTE: Special thanks to Azimov, T43 and Pankite for their contributions to the early chapters!
> 
>  _Here's a red-letter date in the history of science: November 5th, 1955._  
>  -Doctor Emmett Brown
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTE:
> 
> This has been a loooooooooong time in production. In fact, it's technically still in production, BUT we're coming close enough to having the entire fic ready that we felt confident enough to post the first chapter on the most important date in Back To The Future history - even surpassing October 22nd, 2015 (the day Marty arrived in the future in Part II). You have no idea how bad I've always wanted to do something in the BTTF verse - and combining it with these silly sisters (even if they aren't sisters in this fic) is like a dream come true.
> 
> Fractal The Future is going to be released in three parts, like the original trilogy, and altogether will be pretty long - even if each part will be a more manageable "paperback novel" length. There may also be some spinoffs, but we'll get to those when we get to them.
> 
> Hope you're ready! Where we're going, we don't need roads!
> 
> -Frui and Jess

For the first time in months, Anna McFly felt like she was on top of the world. Weeks of practice and gruelling training had led her to this moment. After weeks of sleepless nights and stress and worry, listening to her parents gripe at her for making so much "racket" in the garage, this was it. The moment of truth.

With a "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!", they were cranking out the sweet sounds of the Eighties. Her throat was almost raw from practicing this cover night and day, but she thought that only helped "The Power Of Love" sound even more authentic. Well, as authentic as it could when it was coming out of the mouth of a teenage girl.

They were playing for the judges – assessors of their talent or some such – but Anna only had eyes for one person. Her friend and strongest supporter, Jennifer Punzel, was watching from the sidelines of the gymnasium and biting her lip in excitement.

On top of the world.

But, like everything in her life, it wasn't destined to last. "Thank you!" the teacher said into the megaphone as the last strain faded out. "Thanks, that's all we need. We'll be in touch."

"What, Mr Lewis?" Anna yelled out as the feedback squealed. She glanced over at Merida, who shrugged helplessly as she tried to turn off her amp.

"I'm afraid it's just too darn dated. Can't you play anything from this millennium? It's a good song but the other kids at the dance won't know it."

Frowning, she grumbled under her breath, "It's younger than you are, you old coot." Running a hand through her fiery red bangs, she called out to him. "You said anything goes – within reason. This is within reason!"

Still, he shook his head and repeated, "Thank you, Ms McFly. We'll be in touch."

Rolling her eyes, she pulled the guitar strap up and over her head as Mr Lewis went off to chat with the other teachers. "If it was good enough for my parents, it's good enough for these jerks."

"Told you we should do something by Panic or Florence," Merida hissed at her as they started packing up their gear. "People act like they want retro but they don't really."

"Well, I think you sounded great." It was Punz, her rock, her BFF. Always positive even when nobody else was.

Anna gave her a grateful smile, her cheeks perhaps a little pinker than she wanted them to be. There was silence for a few moments before Punz gave a little jerk, eyes widening as she tore them away. "So, uh. They finally reopened that café. How about we go and get a celebratory pick-me-up? My treat." She smiled and Anna couldn't help but return it.

Of course Merida ruined the moment. Anna hadn't even noticed that she'd left to put away her instrument and grab her bag.

"Oi, you two still here? Hurry up or get a room, I don't really care which. I just wanna eat."

This time, Anna was  _positive_  her cheeks were basically on fire, and she scowled in a dismal attempt to hide it. Punz looked a little mortified.

"Merida!" Anna hissed. "We're not- we don't- we're just friends."

Merida rolled her eyes. "Easy choice then, eh? Hurry up!"

Grumbling yet again, Anna stalked off, taking the strap off her guitar as she walked. There was no reason to get so upset at Merida for coming up to them – and telling them to get a room meant nothing. This was high school, after all. Everything was about dating and sex, and teasing your friends about it. And it was always funnier when it had no basis in fact.

If she didn't want to get teased, then she shouldn't have taken so long. Simple.

Still, she found herself glancing up at her friends a few more times as she put away her guitar, watching Punz say something to Merida and Jane that had them snorting, grinning and arguing. Even though she couldn't hear what was being said, it still brought a smile to her own lips.

Of course, it was impossible to miss Merida's eye-roll when she looked to see what was taking so long. Shaking herself, Anna quickened her pace, and within a few minutes had returned to her friends.

"Finally ready to go?" Merida's voice contained only a little bit of snark and a whole lot of 'I'm going to give you so much shit later'.

"Sure," Anna replied with a grumpy expression, more a 'don't say a fucking word' than anything else.

When Punz noticed her suddenly sullen mood, she did the only thing a best friend could do and linked arms with Anna, beginning to lead their small group towards the door.

Ah, to hell with Merida. This was worth it.

~ o ~

The Café 80s was one of those abysmal joints that banked heavily on nostalgia to bring in customers. Neon lights, vintage movie posters, New Coke on tap, Michael Jackson pumping out of the jukebox. There were even a few old-school arcade cabinets in the corner, like Centipede or Wild Gunman. It was ridiculously over-the-top.

Anna loved it. Jennifer liked what Anna liked, and the rest of the band tolerated it because they were all into retro music and it sort of went with the territory.

"I could eat a fecking  _ostrich_ ," Merida groaned, almost knocking Jane over in her haste to grab a booth and order.

Anna just rolled her eyes, following behind her friend. "Yeah, you always say that, but who ends up finishing your fries half the time?"

"Not today!"

Out of the way and in the corner, the booth was the perfect place to watch the comings-and-goings of the restaurant. Anna always sat against the wall. It gave her a perfect view of a faded poster of some eighties band with a bangin' hot chick, and it never failed to cheer her up; Aimee Mann was life.

Or, it would have had Anna actually been able to concentrate on anything other than their less-than-stellar performance – not even that. The  _reaction_  to their performance. They sounded great, she  _knew_  it. Too bad the stupid teachers had no clue.

"Aww, don't mope," Punz said when the other two girls went to order. "You were  _fantastic_  today, and I bet you're only going to get better. Still think you guys should cut a demo."

Anna quirked a small small, head coming to rest on her friend's shoulder. "Thanks. It just… I was really looking forward to playing at the dance."

"Guess you'll have to find an actual date like the rest of us plebs," Punz commented airily.

Wait, was that…? Did Punz want to go with her? She lifted her head and opened her mouth to ask if perhaps Jennifer didn't have a date already, and would she maybe like to go with Anna – just as friends, if that was what she wanted! But then her eyes met Punz's, and she couldn't finish her question. They were so intense, flicking between her own. Even if Anna's mind hadn't completely emptied at their faces being so close together, she doubted she'd have the voice to ask anyway.

' _I'm such a chicken,'_  she admonished herself as she took in the couple of freckles on Punz's nose, her sparkling green eyes. The very slight buck teeth that people made fun of her for back in junior high – earning them a punch to the face from a very overprotective Anna. Because she thought they were adorable. Everything about Jennifer Punzel was adorable and should be protected at all costs.

It was just when Anna started wondering if Punz was going to lean over and finally –  _finally_  make a move – that an unhinged looking woman in frumpy old clothes came up to them to shake a can in their face. "Donate to the 'Dell Valley Clocktower Preservation Society'? Any amount you could give would go to opposing the Mayor, that so-called 'progressive' Tiana Rose-Wilson, and her initiative to desecrate a piece of history! We believe it should-"

"Um, listen," Anna chuckled a little awkwardly, finally finding her voice. It was still a little weak, and she coughed before continuing. "I feel for you, I do, but… we're kind of in the middle of something?"

"Don't be mean," Punz hissed under her breath. Then she reached into her purse and rummaged around for her spare change. "Will this help?"

"Of course," the woman said, beaming at the both of them as though Anna had never tried to shoo her away. "Here, don't forget to take a flyer."

Nodding, Anna took it while Punz put the coins in her collection jar and the woman left. Then she folded the flyer and flicked it over to Punz.

"Phew," she muttered, "You know, sometimes I wonder why a marshmallow like you wants to hang around an asshole like me."

"Huh," Punz commented. When Anna lifted an eyebrow in confusion, she continued, "Why  _does_  a marshmallow like me want to hang around with an asshole like you?"

Anna's mouth opened in mock-offense, and Punz giggled and poked her in the cheek. "I'm sure there's a reason," she said, leaving little doubt that there was. Anna felt a red flush creeping up her neck and she looked away.

"W-well maybe I could try and be a little less, y'know…"

"Rude?"

"Hey!"

But Punz was still smiling, and maybe she was a little pink, too. Anna bit her lip. Maybe the moment was right, and this was no time to be a coward. Sucking in a breath, she leaned forward, just a little bit.

"Hey…" she repeated, more softly. It was Punz's turn to lift an eyebrow. "Do you…" she trailed off. She'd lost her nerve, as she knew she would, but that was okay. She just had to find it again. Punz didn't try and speak, even as the words died on Anna's tongue –hell, she didn't even ask what Anna had wanted to say. She just kept looking at her with those same round eyes, open and encouraging.

"Yes?"

Sucking in a breath, Anna bit her lip and moved her hand. It came to rest atop Punz's where it sat on the table. She got to rub at the soft skin, using the distraction to lean a little closer. A blonde eyebrow lifted in a question, but still Punz didn't interrupt. Her face was flawless, and the only thing that seemed to exist were the two of them. Anna felt her heart beating like a drum in her chest. "Do you, uhh, maybe…" she tried again, finding her courage—

—before Merida and Jane dropped into the opposite booth bench, setting a basket of fries down in the middle of the table. Anna jerked her hand away and leaned back, heart thundering in her chest. Goddammit! Jane was clearly focused on her stomach, because she was already grabbing for the ketchup bottle, but Merida looked highly suspicious.

"Did we come back too early?"

"Wh-what?" Anna asked, trying to look like she had done nothing weirder than ask Punz what time it was. Probably failing because her hand had jerked back and both had shot away like they'd been shoved in opposite directions. "I mean, yeah, if you were getting more food than fries." Merida looked at her. "We were just talking!"

"They're going to bring out the rest," Jane said, oblivious. "Apparently, on a  _skateboard_. It's really very fascinating, they seem to want to cram as much nostalgia in as is humanly possible."

The remainder of lunch was absolute torture. Punz was perfectly happy to discuss Mr Beaker's art assignment, leaving Anna to studiously ignore the stares from Merida. It was almost commendable how cool and composed Jennifer could remain under pressure or when in uncomfortable situations. This time, it simply fed into the insecurity that perhaps she was imagining things and Punz simply wanted to be her friend.

Not even the arrival of heaps of fast food delivered by high speed skateboarding waitress brought relief from Merida's interrogative gaze; Anna's hopes of talking to Punz about anything of consequence were dashed. Halfway through the lunch, she excused herself from the table to go to the bathroom, feeling a little more dejected than she knew she had any right to. Even if they hadn't been interrupted, chances were that she would have chickened out anyway.

Just as she had entered the short hall to the facilities, a welcome voice rang out behind her.

"Hey Anna, wait up!" Punzie looked…  _different_  when she approached. There was a spark in her eyes that was a little bit excited; perhaps hopeful. "You wanted to ask me something earlier?"

"N-no. Well yes. Maybe." When Punz simply looked at her, expectant, Anna caved. Biting her lip, she dragged a hand through her hair. "So, um, here's the thing. Dancing. It's happening, a-and since they probably won't let us play, I kinda need someone to go with. Like you said! Well, I mean, not that you… uhh…"

Punzie had closed the distance between them while Anna was busy trying to wrangle her unruly thoughts. She leaned forwards with a small, soft grin before reaching her hand around behind Anna's back. The redhead let out a whimper as she felt Punzie's hand trace a pattern on her back jean pocket before being very disappointed with its sudden withdrawal.

"Grandma's address and number. My phone's being fixed by the Geniuses at the mall right now, and we're staying there while they finish renovating my bathroom so we have to go back to the stone ages and use a landline. Pick me up at seven. Dress nice!"

When Anna's brain refocused on the present, she discovered that Punzie had scrawled a series of lines on the back of the Clocktower flyer, each as precious as gold dust to a horny teen. Her putting it in Anna's pocket was just a very nice icing on an even nicer cake.

"O-kay," she managed to sputter as she slipped it back into her pocket. Funny how she could normally be so confident – even "a cocky slacker" according to Vice-Principal Weselton – but Punz could turn her into a jellyfish with an almost-butt grab, soft words and a smile. "And did you think about… you know, the plans for after?"

"Driving up to North Lake?" Punz bit her lip, finally looking a little less than completely sure of herself. "We'll see if I'm ready. But I'm leaning toward 'hell yes'."

Anna's grin could have lit up the dark side of the moon. "Great! I mean… yes, that's… yes. Hope you feel ready when the time comes. Might even uh, have a little surprise for you…"

"Even if I don't, it's not because I don't like you," she reassured her, that same soft smile on her face. "It's just new. You and me, we've been friends forever, so changes are… weird." Then she nudged Anna and tacked on, "But this change… I don't think I'm gonna have a problem with. Also, nipple piercings  _aren't a surprise_  when you take me to get them because you're too chicken to go on your own."

And with that parting remark, the smirking girl backed away, returning to their table. Anna gazed after her for a moment.

"'M not a chicken…" she mumbled to herself.

It was only when Punz glanced back over to her that Anna remembered why she'd gotten up in the first place. Right, yes. Things to do. Ogling could wait until after. But she was on top of the world and nothing was going to knock her off that perch.

Nothing but a nuclear explosion.

* * *

  **_To Be Continued…_ **

* * *

BONUS: We got art! This representation of our Anna McFly was done by [Prince](https://twitter.com/proncproncpronc)! Isn't it RAD??


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, another chapter so soon! Fruipit and I wanted to really get the ball rolling, since we know chapter 1 wasn't much to grab onto. Hopefully this gives you a bit more of a taste of Pepsi Free- I mean, of what's to come!

The sun was setting by the time Anna and Punz parted ways, Anna promising to ring later. She always hated having to but it was inevitable; they were teenagers, after all.

"Don't you have something with Doc tonight?" Punz asked, and while Anna knew the question wasn't intended to bring her down, she couldn't help but groan.

"Yeah," she admitted with a shrug. "The old coot has me running some weird science experiment, but it isn't until after midnight, so…" She smiled crookedly at her friend. "Might get a chance to call."

The last thing she expected was Punz's lips to hit her cheek, soft but sure, before she turned around with a wave. "You better not forget, loser!" she yelled over her shoulder. Anna could only lift her hand in a half-hearted, almost numb, wave in return.

After that, she proceeded to ride a wave of bliss – and her skateboard – all the way back to Aren Estates. With one hand in her pockets in order to keep Punz's phone number safe, Anna was unable to catch a quick ride on a passing jeep. By the time she rolled into her driveway, however, both her jaw and her hopes had dropped to the ground.

Her parents' white truck, the one she'd been given permission to use after the dance, was crumpled from the front bumper to the doors. There was no way it was going anywhere.

Anna's whole heart seemed to freeze, fall, and shatter inside her chest. She slid off her skateboard, staring numbly at the damage. There was a sharp beep, and she looked around. The tow truck that had obviously dragged the poor vehicle home was still in the street. She noticed it start to move, and hustled over to the shotgun window.

"What the hell happened to our truck?!" The driver shrugged, saying he only took down the owner of the vehicle.

As Anna watched her meticulously planned night with Punz slip away, her shoulders drooped. ' _Maybe it's just the McFly way. Losers whose shit gets wrecked.'_

Her pity party lasted for as long as it took her to turn around and spot two crushed beer cans. Bud Lite.

Her mouth lifted in a sneer. She knew exactly who had done this, because she knew her father didn't drink outside – that was what the couch was for – and her mother, well. Her mother drank other stuff. There was really only one person it could be. Tucking her skateboard under her right arm, Anna scowled and marched towards the front door.

' _If that raging dumbass Hans did this_ _…_ _sorry, skateboard. You're about to get broken off in his_ _ass.'_

Of course, it was all bluster. Anna heard his annoyingly slippery voice even before she opened the door, and hitched her glare into place as she walked inside. Though that would probably be the worst she did.

"…Who's gonna pay my cleaning bill?" he was demanding of her father. As big of a man as Kris McFly was, he always stood with a hunch, as if to minimise his presence. That let the slightly shorter man tower over him easily.

"Now, Hans, I don't think we need to make a scene," he sighed, scrubbing his fingers through his lanky blond locks. "And I never noticed any 'blind spot' when I drove the truck. Maybe you just-"

"Maybe I what? Hm? You're going to turn this around on me? I never wreck my Jag."

"Then what's it doing in the shop right now?" Anna piped up, voice acid. She couldn't help herself, and if her dad wasn't going to say it, she would.

Hans Tannen turned slowly, head bobbing as he regarded Anna with complete disinterest. Another Bud Lite was in his right hand, and he sneered. "What the hell are you even doing in the shop?" Ducking his head as he took another step, Hans lowered his voice to a threatening whisper. "Diggin' on the new chick there, huh? Lemme save you the trouble: if she did bat for the other team, I don't think she'd want a scraggly, wannabe rock star like you."

Anna bristled, holding her skateboard tighter and raising her chin defiantly. She could snap the board right over his ugly face, but… that would only make it worse for her father. She looked at him, eyes pleading. ' _Come on, Dad, stand up for yourself!'_

Father and daughter shared a split-second look before Anna grudgingly stepped away. "I've never been to that shop," she said through gritted teeth. "Just… know that's why you borrowed our truck." It felt awful to swallow all the other things she wanted to say, but she also didn't want to make her dad deal with the fallout.

"Whatever," he grunted, taking another swig.

"And that's why. Can't you just, you know, realise that drunk driving is a crime for a reason?"

Whoops. That was exactly what her father had been trying to avoid: confrontations. Hans's eyes narrowed as he stepped closer, leaning over her in such a menacing way that her hand finally did clench into a fist behind her back. Ready.

"At least I can hold my liquor. Unlike  _some_  members of your family. Right?" His smile was poisonous, and he reached up to pat her cheek. "Say ' _hi_ ' to your mom for me," he told her, making it very clear that he had something else on his mind entirely. "Whether or not she can hear you say it… well, whatever, doesn't matter."

Then he handed her the beer can, startling her into taking it, and turned to leave the house. By the time she thought to lob it at his head, the remnants of the can spilling across the lawn, he was already too far away to notice.

Fuming, Anna turned back to her dad. She wanted to ask him why he did that – why he let himself get walked all over by that  _douche_. Why he didn't seem to have even the most rudimentary of spines at all. Before she even had a chance to open her mouth, he was shaking his head. A plea for her not to ask – one she knew all too well.

"Why don't you go and see if your mother is awake?" he asked softly, and Anna's anger faded away to sadness.

God he was such a coward. She loved him – and her mother – with all her heart, truly she did. But that didn't make her blind to their faults, either.

As she turned down the hallway, stopping by her room to put her skateboard away and to charge her mobile, she thought about her family and where it all went wrong. Surely her father wasn't born a coward? Sometimes she even wondered whether they loved her or not. She was the youngest, a child they probably hadn't wanted but chose to take on anyway. She had some happy memories from her childhood, but they grew sparser and sparser as she grew up. Nowadays, her father had little interest in what she did, provided she stayed out of trouble. He had enough issues in his own life.

Her mother…

Elsa McFly had been beautiful, once. Young and full of laughter. Anna still had a few memories of when she was small, being chased around by a tickle monster with golden hair and a warm smile. When it was just them and everything was happy.

But then she became bitter as Anna grew up. And while she knew it wasn't her fault – at least not directly – it was obvious that if she wasn't in the picture, her parents probably wouldn't have tried to maintain their farce of a marriage.

Perhaps they'd both be happier, apart but without her, than they were together but with her.

Shaking herself, she came to a stop outside the master bedroom. The door was shut, though not completely. There was nothing but darkness beyond, and without knocking, Anna slowly pushed the door open.

There was just enough light, filtering in from the hallway and through the open blinds, to illuminate her mother. Elsa lay on her side, facing away from the door. Upon her bedside table sat a glass of water, untouched, and a bottle of whiskey, half-empty.

Sighing to herself, more from sadness than frustration, Anna stepped into the room. She picked up the glass of water, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her mother. The older woman woke with a start, giving a sharp exhale and a jerk. Anna only just managed not to spill the water on herself, but that was down to the years of practise she'd had more than anything.

"Here, Mom," she said softly. "You gotta stay hydrated."

Elsa let out a groan, covering her eyes. She'd already begun to develop a headache, by the looks of it. "What do you want, Anna?" she asked, still not looking at her daughter or taking the proffered drink. "If you want some money, you'll have to ask your father."

"I want you to drink some water, otherwise the headache'll be worse."

Elsa glared at her. "Don't you tell me what to do," she said. "I'm your mother, not one of your high school friends getting wasted at a house party."

Chest burning, Anna stood up. She half-slammed the water down on the table, letting it slosh over the side a little. There was nothing she had to worry about ruining, after all.

"Just drink the damn water," she growled, before stalking from the bedroom. She let the door slam behind her.

Suddenly, she couldn't stand the suffocating house. Without a car as a means to escape, she ran back to her bedroom and grabbed her skateboard, desperate to leave.

"I'll see you later, Dad," she muttered as she brushed passed him. He heard the door slam, and he still didn't have the guts to stop her. Casting a look back into the house, towards the closed door that hid her mother from the world, she let out a groan.

Within seconds, she was out the door and flying down the street.

~ o ~

An hour had passed by the time she returned. Not that it felt like that long. She'd spent her time listening to her iPod and skating around the streets. Looked at the clocktower flyer a few times, just to remind herself that  _someone_  could remember how to show affection. Cried when no one was looking - just a little to vent her feelings.

Her return was just time for dinner, which was on purpose; her family could be more civil during meals, usually. Her older siblings, John and Wendy, were just moving the entrée to the table when she stepped into the dining room. She could smell it a mile away; a frozen lasagna. Again.

"About time you showed up," John said in a snooty voice. He thought that just because he had a managerial job at Pizza Planet – which meant that he was helping support them – that he got to talk down to her. She wanted to kick him for it.

"Yeah, you left your phone here again," Wendy said. She was much more reasonable and independent; she lived on her own and was involved with some guy named Peter. Only came back for dinners most nights because she knew the family needed her support, though it was more emotional rather than financial from her. "It keeps buzzing with calls from 'Punziepoo Gemma'. Who's that?"

"That says 'G-ma'. You know, short for grandma?"

"Oh, I know who it is."

Anna turned with a sinking heart toward the door to the kitchen. Elsa looked a little more put together than she had earlier, and definitely better than some other nights. Miserable, obviously – her clear blue eyes were bloodshot, with dark bags underneath – but she was clean, dressed in a conservative blue sweater and old mom jeans, her blonde hair up in a bun. And in her hand, as always, was a Jack and Coke… or a rum and Coke. She did at least like to switch things up.

It didn't look like she'd drunk any of the water Anna had offered; in fact, it seemed that she'd actually continued drinking where she'd left off, instead of letting herself sober up a bit. There was a definite sway to her step as she moved into the dining room, plonking down on her chair at the end of the table. Glancing past her mother and into the kitchen, Anna could see the same bottle that had been present on her mother's bedside table. This time, though, it was empty.

"Stop fiddling with that television, Kristoff." Elsa's voice distracted her, brought her back to reality. "Dinner time is family time."

Even as she said it, Anna had the impression that Elsa didn't really believe that herself. Wendy was still looking between the two of them. "Well? Who is it? They left like, fifty thousand messages."

Anna knew she should probably be desperate to respond to Punz, let her know everything was fine. To apologise for making her worry. Right now, though, she just wanted to be left alone.

But that wasn't an option, so she took her seat in the middle of the table, equal distance away from her father and her mother. Kristoff finally turned back to the table, and Elsa, whose eyes had closed as she finished off her drink, gave a little hiccup.

"She wants to get in your sister's pants," she replied at last.

"Mom-!"

"Ew!" Wendy added into the mix.

"Now, honey," Kristoff began in a reasonable tone, "let's not be rude at the dinner table."

"Oh, it's fine. She knows I'm right. It's not rude if it's the truth, is it?" Turning her glare back to her youngest, she said in a would-be conversational tone, "I can't believe I raised a young lady to be a… well, when I was her age, that wasn't even a thing. Girls didn't chase girls unless they were trying to beat them up or steal their lipstick – and even then, a  _true lady_  would never have done such a thing. You'd certainly never catch me making out with another girl! What's the matter with Millennials?"

Focused on eating his salad, John managed, "They're brats. Don't know how good they have it."

"This is great, Mom," Wendy attempted to derail the conversation. "You sure can unfreeze a lasagna."

"Yeah," Anna commented quietly, more to herself than anyone. "You suck the ice right out of the food and use it on the family instead."

Silence. Wendy's eyes widened and John choked on his food. Anna could see, from the corner of her eye, her father sink lower into his seat.

Her mother didn't say anything.

It was uncomfortable, but that wasn't what made Anna slam her fork down and get up. It wasn't the silence, either – at least not directly. At least if her mother had yelled, or cried, or grounded her, at least then Anna would know she cared. Just before she slammed her bedroom door shut, she heard the beginnings of a new conversation, floating down the hall.

They could be a normal family. She knew that. They just couldn't when  _she_  was there.

Dinner was long over with when her mother came to her door. She didn't knock, but then, Anna never expected her to. She simply swung it open and stood there, a fresh drink in hand. For a moment, nothing else happened. They just stared: Elsa toward Anna, and Anna toward the wall past the end of her bed.

"You owe the entire family an apology for storming off in the middle of dinner."

"And you owe the family one for always being drunk off your ass all the time."

"ANNA LORRAINE!"

"Can you shut the door again? Don't want my room smelling like a bar."

That was definitely a step too far. Yes, Anna was tired of seeing her mother like that all the time. Yes, she was tired of having her budding relationship with Jen judged and belittled constantly, as if it were somehow worse than Wendy's with Peter. But she was still the child, and Elsa still the parent. So when the angry woman came storming into the room, eyes wide with fury, she flinched from fear and sheer chagrin.

"Listen to me, you little shit!" The hiss was dangerous and full of venom, but there was no strike, nor even a single finger laid upon her. Even in her worst hour, Elsa had never hurt her physically. At least, not yet. "Your father and I have sacrificed everything for you three. You have… NO idea. Even letting you run around and pretend you're a lesbian, messing around with that band of yours instead of applying to colleges. All we ask is that you just… have dinner! Act like you're a part of this family for an hour a day! And you're so damn selfish that you can't even manage that!"

"Selfish?" Anna let out a short bark of laughter, her blood beginning to boil as her emotions finally caught up with her: fear, exhilaration, and a rising anger. She was about to do something incredibly stupid, and she just didn't care anymore. "Selfish is never spending a single sober moment around your own daughter, someone you are supposed to  _love_  and  _care for_."

Anna stood abruptly, almost whacking Elsa in the face with her head as she did so. They were face-to-face like a pair of hissing cats, her tirade washing away any doubts she had before.

"I  _am_  a part of this family – more so than you, anyways! You can't even manage to have one normal moment with us! Where you even look us in the eyes! Where is the 'how was school'? Where is the 'I love you'? Where is the 'maybe I wont drink as much just this once so I remember what the hell happened during dinner'?!" Anna was shouting by this point, eyes wet. She wasn't crying, though; she refused to let her mother see her cry. "Real moms care about their daughter's lives! Real moms care about their daughter's bands and girlfriends, i-instead of telling them what they want to do with their lives is stupid! Selfish is forcing me to do something I don't want to do in order to make you feel better about your wasted life. Selfish," she cried, seizing the glass from her mother's hands, "is  _this shit!"_

She wasn't sure if she threw it on purpose or if it just slipped. Either way, the glass smashed against the wall, leaving an impressive dent and littering the ground in a million shiny shards. The contents spilled across the carpet, staining it a sticky brown. Elsa McFly stood silently, her mouth agape at the unexpected resistance, the violent noise and the mess, and the razor-blade edge of Anna's words.

"I wish I had never been born! And you probably do, too! Now leave me alone!"

Anna stood, panting with exertion as tears rolled down her cheeks. Fuck, and now she  _was_  crying. She stared, anger still bubbling in her stomach, but fighting for dominance against the unexpected pity she felt for the shell of a woman before her. The anger was standard procedure. Didn't she even care?

But apparently, this time she had struck a chord. Elsa closed her mouth and turned to leave the room, a sad, dejected figure in place of the bitter, angry harridan that had come in to admonish her. Through her tears, Anna almost missed her quiet parting words before she closed the door.

"I could never wish that, Anna. I  _do_  love you. I just… can't show it the way you think I should."

The door closed with a soft click, one that somehow seemed louder than anything else that had transpired that night.

Anna buried her face in the pillow and cried until sleep took her.

~ o ~

It was after one in the morning when Anna's phone went off and woke her. Just as Wendy had said, it was still plugged into the charger on her nightstand, completely charged and full of voicemails from the iPhone-deprived Punz. This time, though, it wasn't Punz. Only one person ever bothered calling her on a regular basis – and it wasn't her parents.

"Miss McFly!" a somewhat scratchy voice called through the line, not quite as clear as the phone company had claimed it would be. Though, perhaps that was her sleepiness coming into play.

"Doc?" she croaked, sitting up and rubbing her face. "What's… hmm?"

"Did you forget? The experiment is tonight!"

Shaking her head, she cleared her throat and managed to mutter, "No, no, I've been up for hours. I swear." The lie was only a little white one; she hadn't actually intended to fall asleep. It was a byproduct of everything that had happened that day: losing the gig, and her weekend with Punz; the fight with her mother; the crying.

Her whole stupid life.

"Great! I need you to pick up my video camera on your way to the mall parking lot."

"Nobody still uses those," she muttered, but had to stifle a yawn before she could get any further in her rebuttal. "Can't I just record it with my phone?"

"This is too important to leave to chance. I don't trust 'cloud storage' or any of that newfangled claptrap; accounts getting hacked! WikiLeaks!"

As she struggled into a pair of jeans, she managed to mutter, "Illuminati confirmed." Then she took a swig of leftover PepsiMax before she said, "I'll be there, Doc. Later," and hung up. Then she dumped the rest of the contents in the trash because it tasted like it had been sitting there for a week – and to be fair, it probably had.

But maybe this distraction was a blessing. The Doc's experiments didn't always work, but they were at least always interesting. At this point, Anna would take just about any excuse not to have to think too hard about her family.

The spring weather was just a little too chilly for Anna to go out at night in just her faux-vintage Guns N' Roses tee, so she threw on a thin blue flannel – queer pride! – and grabbed a red puffer vest to go over it, just in case. Maybe it made her look like a terrible Supergirl closet cosplayer, but whatever. Then she was carrying her skateboard and Vans as she snuck through the house.

As she crept to the front door, hand coming to rest on the handle, she heard a voice behind her hiss, "Where do you think you're going?"

No time wasted. "Out."

The carpet muffled any noise, but Anna had a feeling her mother had taken another step forward. She didn't sound as drunk as before, but that was no surprise. They'd had this fight before, and all it ever achieved was a temporary respite.

But in the end, the addiction always won, and Anna always lost.

"You walk out that door, and you're grounded from seeing that Jennifer Punzel ever again."

"You can't do that!" she said in a tight voice, whipping around. "She's the  _only_  thing helping me survive this trainwreck of a family right now. Take her away, and all you'll have is a dead kid on your hands. Wouldn't that be annoying?"

Silence. She turned the doorknob, taking a last look at her mom's face, almost wishing for another fight. Another reason to storm out, or slap her. She wanted the woman who had raised her to act like she cared; Anna was  _daring_  her to. But what she got was worse.

Elsa McFly was weeping freely, making no noise, but pushing a wad of tissues into her mouth and nose as her eyes streamed. It had been a while since she had seen her that low… and even longer since it had been her fault.

"Anna… where did I go wrong with you? I can't… figure you out. I try but I can't. Why can't we understand each other?"

"Mom..." But she couldn't stay, and she hoped, somewhere deep inside, that Elsa understood why. So she merely whispered, "I won't be gone long. I just have to help Doc with something, and then I'll come straight back home and go to bed."

They both knew it was a lie. This wasn't the first time Anna had left at odd hours. It wasn't even the first time Elsa had tried to stop her. But it was the closest either of them had gotten, in a very long time, to actually opening up to one another.

Despite that, Anna still found herself unable to stay; unable to comfort her mother, who so obviously needed it. Elsa offered no argument as she left; even as Anna shoved her feet into her shoes and began skating away, a small part of her was desperate to return. To hug the woman who, once upon a time, was her mother in more than just her title.

She could even imagine a future where, for once, her life went  _right._ They'd hug and cry, and tomorrow they'd wake. Elsa would be sober and Anna happy, and maybe they could actually be a family. Her father would stand up for himself and John would have a revelation of just how important family was. Wendy might actually be free of them, able to be the person she was supposed to, instead of being dragged down by her unbalanced family.

Once the idea was in place, it was hard to shake. And it burned, leaking out of her eyes and down her wind-whipped face as she skated towards Doc's home. That was only ever going to be wishful thinking. She was tempted to sneak over to Punz's – there she could cry without fear of being judged. There she could ask for a smile and receive a hug, just for good measure. Punz cared about her because she wanted to; because to her, it was as natural as breathing. Their families cared because they were obligated to. When was the last time they said that they loved Anna? Scratch that – when was the last time they said they even  _liked_  her?

Was her being part of their lives really all that bad?

Swallowing down all those self-destructive worries, Anna tried to refocus. She was going to help Doc with his stupid experiment, and then she was going over to Punz's grandmother's place and confessing all of her feelings. It was so easy to waste time without telling people how much they meant. She wasn't going to be anything like her parents. That she could promise herself.

* * *

 _To Be Continued_ _…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Character death. (Sort of.)
> 
> EDIT: One too many people on FFnet naused up our reviews with details about weaponry. The chapter has been amended.

As she rolled into the parking lot of Twin Pines Mall, video camera under one arm, the first and only thing she saw was a huge white eighteen-wheeler truck. It read "Dr Emmett L. Pabbie – Scientific Services" on its side, which really misled any potential passersby as to the eccentric old man who owned it. This late, no one else was using the lot, and she rolled lazily down the ramp and onto the concrete. The momentum took her all the way up to the truck where she could knock gently on its side.

"Doc?" she asked as she kicked the edge of the board to pop it up and catch it. "You in there? Or… what?"

Before she could call out again, a mangy white dog came loping around the corner, barking and wagging its tail. Anna bent down with a slight smile and scrubbed behind his ears. "Heya, Olaf! Where's the Doc, boy? Where'd he go?" He gave an answering yip that really was no help at all.

The hissing of hydraulics and white steam emanating from the back of the truck gave her all the information she needed. Moving around, she watched as the doors opened further; far enough to reveal piercing lights shining through the fog. A ramp slid out and down to the concrete, and out rolled…

A car. Not just any car– it was a crazy old 1980s model that almost looked more like something out of a cheesy movie on Syfy than a real automobile. It was familiar, though Anna hadn't ever seen one in person. What's more, this one was so souped up beyond recognition that it took her a moment to recall its name.

"A DeLorean…?" Stepping closer, she muttered under her breath, "Jesus, Doc. If you wanted a junker, we've got a freshly smashed one at home."

Then the gull-wing door of the ancient car hissed open, revealing a wild-eyed old man. His normally-white frizzled hair was stained green today – Anna didn't even want to ask why – and he was wearing a white radiation suit. When he got himself disentangled from the seatbelt and out of the car, she took a hesitant step toward him.

"Doc?"

He jumped, turning around to catch site of his poor assistant. "Anna!" he cried, breaking into a wider grin as he approached and gripped her shoulder, a zealous gleam in his eye. "You made it! And you brought the camera – excellent!"

Glancing past him at the car and its previous hiding place, she whispered, "Did you rig up a fog machine literally just for this reveal? Dude, that's… a little much."

"Don't be silly!" he chuckled. "Why pay for a fog machine when I have perfectly good dry ice just lying around?"

Anna could have left then and there. Instead, she rolled her eyes, yawned, and gestured pathetically with the camera. "Can we hurry up, please?" she asked. God she  _sounded_  pathetic, too. "Today hasn't been great…"

"Ah." Nodding sagely, he patted one shoulder even as the other hand moved to pick up a clipboard from the seat. "Trouble with your parents again? I understand. My own were rather… let's use the phrase 'disapproving' when it came to my own academic leanings. They wanted me to go into law – LAW!"

Then he leaned in, a gleam dancing in his beady eye. "But they were wrong, as are yours. Tonight, you and I are going to make scientific history!"

That was… honestly not what she wanted to hear. But maybe it was what she  _needed_  to hear. Something to get her mind off everything. Sucking in a breath, she nodded. "Okay, fine. Scientific history. What are we doing this time? Figuring out how to make weird cars worth something?"

"I know you're only joshing, but what if I said yes?"

Anna stared at him. "I'd say that you seem to misunderstand what 'scientific breakthrough' means, and this was a waste of time," she replied. Doc just laughed again.

"We have all the time in the world! Nothing will ever be a waste of time again because you see, my dear, dear Anna, what you're looking at isn't  _just_  a car! Oh no. It's a  _time machine_."

She blinked. Then, she blinked again.

"Time machine," she repeated, voice terribly flat. Doc nodded. Pointing at the hunk of junk in front of her, she said,  _"That._  Is a time machine."

"It is indeed. You're looking at the most valuable material possession in the world! See, look– come on! Turn on the camera!"

Numbly, Anna did as he said, turning on the antiquated device and pointing it at her mentor. It was way too late for this kind of bullshit. Patting down his front, Doc began speaking to the camera.

"Good evening. I'm Doctor Emmett Pabbie, and I'm standing at a parking lot of Twin Pines Mall, Dell Valley, California. It's Saturday morning, October 24, 2015—" here, he paused to check his watch, "—one thirty-eight in the morning, and this is temporal experiment number one."

What the- an actual  _experiment_? Anna had seen enough Mythbusters to know that there should at least be safety glass and a fire extinguisher. Things always either exploded or caught on fire. Or  _both_.

"This is not what I had in mind when I answered your Craigslist ad two years ago," she muttered under her breath as she focused the lens on him. No, she'd expected to be making a thousand pots of coffee a day and helping to type out some terrible handwriting. Not  _this_.

She was brought back to the present by a whistling noise – Doc was flicking his fingers back and forth over the driver's seat, calling Olaf to him. The dog hopped up into seat, and Doc put a seatbelt around his furry body.

"Alright," Doc said as he held up two stopwatches, one from around his own neck and the other from Olaf's. "As you can see, both watches are synchronised, down to the millisecond." They both turned over to 1:40 at the same instant. "Great. Now, Olaf – stay."

The dog obediently cocked its head at his master, as if he might get a treat if he obeyed, but instead the door was shut above him. Then, Doc pulled out something she definitely did not expect to see next: a complex remote control setup that made her think of the ones used by drones and other UAVs. Before she even had a chance to say, "What the actual fuck," the car was zooming away, Doc controlling it with the remote.

Poor Olaf.

He was making it travel to the far end of the parking lot, lining it up so it would have a clear run of the parking lot. Whether it was supposed to do something fancy like time travel or what, Anna had no idea – she was more concerned by the fact that it was  _pointing directly at them_. But they were supposed to move before the experiment began.

Right?

"This is it" he was saying with that same old Doc Pabbie manic gleam in his eyes. "We are standing on the precipice of the greatest scientific discovery since the wheel." He turned to look at his young protegé. "Keep that camera rolling, Anna, because if my calculations are correct, as soon as this baby hits 88 miles per hour, we're going to see some serious  _shit_."

"Well, if we don't move, I'm going to shit myself. It's pointed right at us!" Anna's eyes widened as she stared at him. Doc noticed.

"Don't film me! Watch the car!"

Quickly correcting herself, she pointed the camera at the car, very aware of the fact that the car was pointing at  _them_ , and Doc actually seemed pretty keen on keeping it that way. He glared – actually glared! – at her when she shuffled to the side. Then, he hit some buttons and pressed some levers, and suddenly the air was filled with the smell of burning rubber as the car's tires spun in place along the pothole-riddled bitumen.

Anna's brain did some rapid calculations as the car came careening towards them. On the one hand, she was pretty upset right now with her whole life and family and all that shit; on the other hand, she didn't  _actually_  want to die.

But, then again, in all the years she had spent assisting Doc, she could truly call him a friend, even with the half-century age difference. Running them over with a rapidly moving chunk of nostalgia was wildly out of character – not to mention the fact that Doc would never, ever knowingly put Olaf in danger.

This was, after all, the man who had taught her to drive because her mother couldn't and her father wouldn't; the man who once spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time working on an immortality serum for dogs. He had a plan, Anna knew he had a plan.

Which was good. because the DeLorean was almost on top of them.

Anna was moments from deciding to shut her eyes, unwilling to be faced with her own mortality, when something odd began happening with the car. Huge crackles of electricity began to crawl over the bodywork of the car and a jet of flame erupted from the back of the vehicle.

And then it was  _gone_. The entire car, everything inside of it, had winked out of existence, leaving behind nothing but two fire trails along the ground.

"I… wait, WHAT?!"

"It worked!" Doc cackled, hopping up and down. "What did I tell you?! Eighty-eight miles per hour!"

Anna stumbled, the camera now hanging loosely from her hand as she walked toward the only piece that had been left behind when it vanished; a smoking license plate that said "OUTATIME". She would have laughed at the humour if the rest of the situation felt as funny. Her hand strayed down to pick it up, but it was hot to the touch, and she dropped it with a hiss of surprise.

"What the actual shit?!  _Jeez,_  Doc, you disintegrated Olaf!"

"Not 'disintegrated', Miss McFly!" he said, doing a little jig of pure glee as he joined her side. "I assure you, both my trusty canine companion and his scientific chariot are both perfectly intact!"

Mouth flapping for a moment, Anna couldn't quite find her voice. She opened her arms, indicating the empty parking lot as her head swung back and forth. Almost as if she would see the DeLorean in some far off corner - which was ridiculous, but she couldn't help herself. Doc may have been a tinkerer, and true, many of his inventions  _did_  work. But they weren't marketable ones, and never on this scale! It was more likely that he'd figured out how to do  _literally anything else_  to the car other than it being a time machine. Disintegrating it was high on her list.

"Then where the hell is he?" she cried, when he didn't seem to be understanding her unspoken question,

"Wrong question, dear girl!" he giggled, like a preschooler with a secret cookie in his pocket. "You should be asking,  _'when_  the hell are they?' I have just sent them into the FUTURE!" Anna was still blinking when he held up a pair of fingers. "Two minutes into the future, to be precise! Only enough to ensure that the experiment is a success, but not so much that we lose control of the testing site!"

Anna needed to sit down. Her legs were jelly. "Time machine," she said dazedly, eyes wide. Her stomach rolled and she wasn't even sure why. "You built a time machine. Out of a  _DeLorean_ _?_ " Where the fuck did he even get a DeLorean, anyway?

"Well, if you're gonna build a time machine, you may as well do it in style," he said. Anna barely got through her eye roll before he continued with, "Plus, the stainless-steel construction made the flux dispersal a full 67% more effective than if I'd used a more contemporary model."

"Where did you even find one, Doc?" Anna asked in an exhale. Maybe if she focused on the small impossibilities, it would make the bigger ones less daunting.

Doc grinned. "Well, funny you should ask-" He was cut off from continuing by a sharp beep, emanating from the watch. There was a millisecond of silence before Anna was pushed roughly to the side. "Look out!"

There was a very sci-fi sounding  _whiz-bang-pop_ , and suddenly the car reappeared, skidding along the ground. It seemed to hiss as it settled, and steam was rolling off it in waves. Or perhaps not. As Anna moved slowly, a few paces behind Doc, it became apparent that the car wasn't burning – quite the opposite.

It was  _frozen_.

Careful to keep his hand wrapped in the sleeve of his labcoat, Doc opened the door. Olaf let out a cheerful yip and Anna was not going to admit just how relieved she was that he wasn't disintegrated.

"What did I tell you?" Doc repeated over and over, scrubbing behind the dog's ears. Anna had to admit, the man really did love his dog; at first, she had been worried that he used him for experiments - after her initial concern that he wanted to use  _her_  for experiments - but it didn't take long to see that he loved Olaf, and only used him as a practical test subject once he was at least reasonably certain that he would be safe. Most of the time, he would use a potato or something similar first, then graduate to Olaf, and then run the test on himself – sometimes herself, too, if necessary. And she consented - whenever it didn't sound like she would be in mortal danger.

"It actually works," she breathed numbly, approaching. But then she saw Doc waving at the camera, so she raised it and aimed at the two of them. It had been recording the whole time; she forgot to hit 'pause' because she was so distracted by  _a working time machine actually existing_.

"As you can see here, now Olaf's stopwatch is exactly two minutes behind mine and still ticking! For us, he ceased to exist for that period in time, but for my little devil here, it was as if he never left. Isn't that right, Laffy?"

Once more, Olaf gave a happy little yip. Well, he sounded happy, but as soon as Doc gave him enough room, he was out the car and into the Doc's trailer, staring at them through one of the grimy windows. Whatever Doc said about it being instantaneous, Anna had the impression that perhaps it wasn't quite that clear-cut. Perhaps it was one of those sixth-sense things that animals had. Either way, Olaf seemed pretty chuffed at not being in the DeLorean anymore.

She didn't have much time to wonder, though, because Doc was quickly calling her over. "Come and I'll show you how it works!"

Intrigued, Anna moved closer. It looked like a car, and it was. Well, the front half. The back started looking more like some relic from an old  _Star Trek_  series, all winking lights and buttons.

"This," he said, pointing to a few cables in a glass box nestled in the back seat. It was shaped like a Y and had the words 'flux capacitor' written above it. "Is the flux capacitor."  _Well, duh_ _…_  "It's what makes time travel work. And here," he turned, pointing at the front console where the CD – or probably cassette – player should have been. Instead, there were three rows of clocks, looking similar to her digital alarm at home. "This is where you input the destination. The middle one is when you are, the bottom is when you were, and the top one is when you're going. "

"If you say so," Anna mumbled distantly. They were all labelled, as Doc was always completely meticulous about labelling everything. Even a saxophone hanging in his lab had a label stuck to its side that said "saxophone", as if it was at all necessary.

"Anywhere – anyTIME you want to be is at your fingertips. Let's say you want to witness the signing of the Declaration of Independence. All you need to do is type the date – in the scientific fashion. Year, month, day." In he typed 1776-7-2. "Or the Normandy landing?" 1944-6-6. "What about… seeing 'The Wizard Of Oz' when it was brand new?" 1939-8-25.

"Follow the yellow brick road," Anna couldn't help muttering, filming everything even as her head spun. "Wow… you can seriously do that? I mean, not just make a dog disappear for a few minutes?"

A twinkle shone in Emmett Pabbie's eyes. "That, and so much more. Ah – here's a red letter date in the history of science: November 5th, 1985." Wistful, he typed in the date.

"Right, yeah. I mean… wait, what date is that? You know I suck at history."

"Well, it's Guy Fawkes Night, but I wouldn't expect an average American student to know that. No… it's going to be remembered for a completely different reason: the date that time travel was invented." His eyes took on a distant look as he leaned back in the DeLorean's seat. "I remember it vividly: I was hanging a clock in my bathroom, standing on the toilet. The porcelain was wet, I slipped and hit my head on the edge of the sink; knocked myself out cold. When I came to, I had a revelation! A vision, a picture in my head! A picture… of this."

His finger drew both of their attentions to the flux capacitor, gently glowing in the technology-appropriated back seat. He had said that was the only thing that made time travel work in the first place, and it had all come to him because he was a klutz. Why not? That was one of the few things they had bonded over when she started working for him: both were slight outcasts who could be remarkably uncoordinated.

It was sort of encouraging, in a way. It meant that Anna could maybe be a complete failure and still succeed at  _something_. Then again… her parents didn't have a great track record.

Ugh. She didn't want to think of her parents. Shaking her head, she followed him as he moved back towards the trailer. "So Doc, I don't suppose this runs on regular unleaded? You sure did add a bunch of equipment on the back there."

Doc gave a snort. "Unfortunately, no. A machine like this requires a little more… kick. Plutonium."

Wait, what? "Plutonium? What kind of- Doc, are- are you telling me this baby is  _nuclear_?" Anna found herself taking a cautious step to the side – not that it would make much of a difference.

"Of course not. It's electrical – what is this, the Dark Ages? I just need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of power I need."

"And where, might I ask, did you get the plutonium? Just run down to the closest nuclear power plant and ask for a sample?"

At that, the Doc came striding back, waving his hands like he was trying to get her to shut up. "I stole it," he whispered harshly. "From a group of nationalists. They wanted me to build them a bomb, so I took their plutonium and, in turn, gave them a shoddy bomb casing full of used pinball machine parts. Come on! Let's get you a radiation suit. We must prepare to reload."

"Wha-?" Honestly, Anna had  _not_  signed up to handle nuclear material.  _Seriously_. The ad had said "part time assistant to help eccentric inventor". The pay wasn't half bad and he had zero expectations other than "show up". It was perfect!

Except for when shit like this happened.

Soon enough, they had "reloaded" the nuclear chamber in the back of the car. At least Doc was professional enough to have dressed them both in radiation suits; Anna was sweating from the thick material, but she definitely didn't feel any weird tingling that might mean she was infected by the plutonium.

"Almost forgot my luggage," Doc said, slipping a suitcase into the car. "Who knows if they have my brand of underwear in the future?"

"The future," Anna breathed, mystified by this entire series of events. Now that she had gotten over the bizarreness and thought about the possibilities, she was excited and began to grin. "Headed forward, like Olaf? How far?"

"Twenty-five years," he said with a shrug. "2040 should be interesting. I've always dreamed of seeing beyond my years, observing the progress of mankind. Find out if that Phantom cartoon was correct about anything."

Anna's eyebrows twitched together. "What cartoon?"

"Roll tape." Obediently, she raised the camera. He was the inventor and she was just along for the ride; no sense in delaying him. "I, Dr Emmett L. Pabbie, being of sound mind, am about to embark on a historic journey." Then he slapped his forehead. "IDIOT!"

"What?!"

"I almost forgot to bring extra plutonium!" Gesturing toward the yellow crate, he laughed. "Where is my head today? One rod, one trip – I'd never be able to come back here without it! I must be losing-"

They were interrupted by Olaf's excited barking. Both of them looked over at the far corner of the mall parking lot to see a beat-up white VW van barrelling toward them. It was still quite far away, but it looked very conspicuous given that the entire carpark was completely deserted.

Anna was still staring at them when Doc stumbled towards her, a hand on his head. "Oh my God. They found me. I don't know how they possibly could have, but they found me." Taking a staggering step back from the DeLorean, he shouted, "Run for it, Anna!"

"Who?" Anna swung the camera round reflexively as Doc rushed away and to the other side of his own truck. Even in that short a time, the camper had come significantly closer. The men inside appeared to be hell bent on arriving as fast as possible, with no regard to safety whatsoever. They did not, however, need safe driving, since what they appeared to have was a statistically significant quantity of AR-15s. One of the people inside, wearing a scarf and a balaclava to hide his identity poked his torso out of the sunroof of the camper and pulled the slide back on his weapon.

Anna considered herself something of a wild child – and perhaps in her more fanciful moments even a child of the world – but this was completely outside of her norm. No one should find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun, let alone a teen girl whose only weapon was a video camera. She jumped behind the only object nearby that might offer her any protection, the DeLorean, as her mind went blank with terror. The distinctive sound of gunfire resonated in her torso, as the sound of bullets tore through her mind.

It is an oft-noted fact by gun enthusiasts throughout the world that handling any kind of automatic or semi-automatic weapon is a tricky endeavour at best, and that a solid stable firing platform is required, along with good trigger discipline and time down the range to learn to deal with recoil. But clearly the half-crazed fanatic leaning out of the top of the camper had absolutely none of these qualities, and consequently managed to place bullets in a wide array of locations in the car park. None of them in Anna, Doc, or Olaf and none in the DeLorean either, she hoped.

That would really ruin her boss-slash-friend's day.

' _I don't want to die. I really don't want to die_.' The thought kept rolling through Anna's mind, over and over again.

"Stay down, Anna!" Doc shouted, pulling out of his toolbox… a revolver. Not a handgun, not a police-issue Glock or a private one, but an actual legit  _revolver_  like someone would use in an old gangster movie. It would have been comical if the situation weren't so serious.

The van bore down on him, and he held up both hands before he could get the gun loaded and fire off a single shot. So he tossed it toward them, palms open. From her position, Anna could see him. Hands up and sweating, despite the cool air.

"Gentlemen! Perhaps I could persuade you to reconsider such a drastic course of action? There's still plenty of plutonium left; I could have something for you by the end of-"

He never got to finish the sentence. Now that they were parked and idling in front of him, the jilted terrorist seemed to have no trouble firing a few rounds into his chest, blowing him backward and out of Anna's sight.

 _"NOOOOO!"_  she wailed, face stretched wide in horror. Gripping the camera more tightly, she ran toward them. She didn't know what made her do it, other than adrenaline and grief, but she ended up screaming the stupidest thing possible with tears running down her cheeks.

_"IT'S NOT NICE TO SHOOT PEOPLE!"_

By the time she realised that running  _towards_  the armed men was possibly even sillier than the words she'd just uttered, it was too late. She was directly in their sights.

Shit. Her life flashed behind her eyes. Pathetic life, obviously, but with a few bright spots. Despite the bizarre experiments, she had actually enjoyed working with Doc. And Jennifer… she would wake up tomorrow to see her face plastered across the news She could even see the headlines: "Eccentric Doctor, Stupid Assistant, Killed".

Closing her eyes, accepting her fate, Anna sucked in a breath. It was like the world had narrowed into this one moment; lights flooding down, bad guys staring at her down the barrel of a gun. Maybe her family could finally be happy this way. Always a silver lining somewhere.

_Click._

Eyes opening, Anna realised with some surprise that she was actually  _Not Dead_ , and her face lit up in a grin. "Ha _HA_ , suckers!" she crowed – before they glared at her. "Oh shit!"

But they were still struggling with the jammed rifle. That gave her time to actually get out of the way. There was only one option: she leapt into the open DeLorean.

Her hands found the keys as her foot punched the accelerator. Luckily, the car seemed to have been converted to an automatic at some point in its existence, and it flung itself forward across the tarmac. The crazed gunman twisted wildly whilst yelling something at the driver, and the camper lurched forwards.

"All right, time to see if your shitmobile can keep up with a  _time machine_ ," Anna muttered as she swerved the DeLorean wildly across the lot, forcing the camper to turn unexpectedly and throwing the terrorist's aim off. The staccato of bullets caused Anna flashes of sheer terror and she punched the accelerator right through the floor.

Anna had of course forgotten something significant. It actually  _was_  a time machine, and not just a getaway vehicle. Just as she saw a rocket launcher in her wing mirror – AN ACTUAL ROCKET LAUNCHER, IN DELL VALLEY, WERE THEY CRAZY – lights began to flash and flicker, both inside the car and outside. She gripped the wheel more tightly, glancing down at the speedometer: 88.

That particular number seemed familiar for some reason…

Then electricity began to crackle in front of and all around her, temporarily blinding her, and the car was shaking as if caught in a hurricane. And  _something_  felt very different, as if she were being forced through a pinhole by an unseen deity. There was else nothing for her to do but hang on for dear life.

_"Help!"_

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are still enjoying! Thanks for all your reviews and messages, Fruipit and I definitely appreciate them! Next chapter, Anna finally meets the younger version of her mother!

Within seconds, it was all over, and the unintentional time traveller was bouncing across the blacktop toward a small, squarish building. For some reason, the image of a fox on the roof and a taped-up sign that said "FILM SALE" caught her attention, and then she was swerving to one side, just barely missing the side of the building by a hair's breadth.

"AAH!" Anna screamed, trying to regain control of the vehicle, peeling out of the lot toward the road. She glanced into the mirrors…

Doc was gone. The truck was gone, the terrorists were gone. Everything… the only thing in the entire parking lot was that photo hut, which was closed for business.

She only managed to get a few hundred yards down the road before the roiling in her stomach really caught up with her. Pulling to the side, she stopped the car and got out. Legs like jelly, she opened up the rad-suit a little.

"This is fine," she said to herself, even if her tone said it most assuredly wasn't fine. "You just blacked out. And woke up here. Doc is safe – or as safe as he could be, it is Doc. You just uh… lost consciousness or something, wanted to forget this shitty day so you took a really long walk and this mall is like, five miles from home, so there's that. A super long walk." She turned around and caught sight of the car. "And apparently you stole a DeLorean. Fuck."

It must have been a long walk because Anna felt vaguely sick. She really wanted to just lie down. But despite how weird that…. nightmare? Hallucination? Despite how weird it was,  _whatever_ it was, she still remembered making a promise to be home after Doc's experiment. Her mind was clear on that matter, even if everything else was some kind of fever dream. Returning to the car, she plopped down in the driver's seat.

And then her mind got even clearer and she realised that it in fact was  _not_  a hallucination, she did  _not_  steal a car or do some Tolkien-esque amount of walking, and this was definitely not 2015 because the last one-hour photo booth anywhere was removed at least a decade beforehand.

Also, she couldn't see at least one Starbucks from where she was parked. Nobody could ignore that kind of evidence.

"No," she breathed, shaking her head as she started the car back up. "Can't be.  _Time travel?_  No, I'm… losing it. Back home and to sleep like I promised Mom."

But when she got home, her house looked… different. Nicer. Maybe Hans felt sorry for wrecking the car and acting like an ass and had paid for a really,  _really_  fast paint job. Probably not, but stranger things had happened.

 _'Like disappearing DeLoreans?'_  a corner of her mind whispered. Shaking that off, she hopped out to thumb the secret pad that would activate the garage door, in case they had to get in without the clicker.

It was gone. What the hell? Shaking her head, she grasped the handle for the rolling door and slid it up… only to find the garage was empty. Not missing-a-car empty. NOTHING empty. No boxes of old photos, no tools, no Christmas decorations… nothing.

"I… well, okay then," Anna muttered to herself before pulling the DeLorean into the garage and tucking it in for the night. This was all pretty Twilight Zone, but she didn't have the power to think of anything anymore. It was way past her bedtime.

Except the door didn't open when she went up to the back. They never locked the back door! No key on top of the doorframe, either. What the hell was up with this?!

Although… this could be punishment. Her mother hiding the key and actually locking the door. It wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. Maybe she could try and sneak in through a window – undeniably the best course of action. Her dad had work the next day, as did her brother and sister. And her mother… well, judging by the time, she'd probably just finished her last bottle and was on the verge of falling asleep.

Gritting her teeth, she glanced over at the drain pipe leading up the side of the garage. Well, her bedroom window shouldn't be locked at least. Her progress was slow – people always made climbing a drainpipe look so easy in the movies, but climbing things in real life was always so  _hard_. Anna had only almost-fallen off twice before she finally made it to the garage roof and scooted over to her bedroom window.

Her jaw fell and her heart sank as she looked inside.

It was completely empty. Well, that wasn't strictly true; there was a bed, and a dresser, but that was it. The setting reminded her more of a hotel room than any room someone actually  _lived_  in.

"Ohhhhh-kay," she grunted, nearly losing her grip and falling to the ground. Again. "Nope! No, that's… bad, Anna." She pushed at the windowsill, but the window was locked tight. "Damn…"

Having no other option, she climbed back down meticulously. Then she jumped in the DeLorean and started it so she could head somewhere else and figure this out.

Except she didn't.

"Come on, what the…?" But no matter how often she turned the key, the engine remained stubbornly un-started. Groaning, she smacked the dashboard and nothing came of that, so she finally gave it up as a lost cause.

Because of course. The stupid thing just  _had_  to run on nuclear power instead of something normal, like… literally anything other than plutonium.

Once she began walking toward Doc's place, she found herself wishing that she had her skateboard. That would sure as hell make it easier to get around, but it was still next to Doc's truck somewhere. Or was it? The last she had looked, everything had vanished. It didn't bode well… but she swore at herself that she would calm down, approach the situation as rationally as was possible under the circumstances.

"Doc can fix this," she muttered to herself as she left the empty shell that was supposed to be her home behind. "He has to be able to."

~ o ~

The more she walked, the less sure Anna was that this really was her town. It was obviously not a hallucination – she managed to trip spectacularly over a pothole and twist her ankle. Not bad, but enough to have her hopping in place and groaning. If her ankle hadn't been so sore, she probably would have kicked something out of spite.

By the time she arrived at Doc's place, it was nearing three-thirty in the morning. The night wasn't cold, but the soft wind that had picked up nipped at her skin, working its way through the holes in the knees of her jeans. She was more than ready to snuggle up to Olaf in front of Doc's not-quite-marketable heater.

As his house came into sight, she found her heart lifting a little. The same dilapidated, half-finished additional wing stuck out like a sore thumb. It shouldn't have made her as happy as it did – the fact that his house was exactly the same as she could remember it. Maybe she was going crazy… and honestly, that was almost preferable to the alternative. Even better, there was a light shining through the first-floor windows.

But when she looked for the key under the doormat, it wasn't there. In fact, the mat was different, but that was such a minor detail that it didn't seem terribly important.

"Doc?!" she called out, pounding on the door. "Hey! Did you make it home okay? Boy, do I have some questions!"

It took a few minutes for the door to click open. Then a groggy face – one most certainly  _not_ Doc Pabbie's – glared down at her from sunken eyes. The man was clad in a white tank top and striped boxers, at least a full head taller than her, nearly as wide, and did not look the least bit amused.

"A-ah. Do you, um…" What could she say? "Is this Emmett Pabbie's house? Does he live here?" The man grunted. "Does he even live on this block?"

Just when Anna was about to bolt, a teenage girl poked her head past the man's bulk. "Hello? Oh… hey, isn't it kind of late for a house-call?"

"What? House-call? I'm… what are you talking about?"

"Thought I heard you say something about a doctor." Shrugging, she tucked a stray strand of auburn hair behind her ear as she yawned widely. She was cute, and her rounded button nose was to die for, but that was neither here nor there when she had bigger problems. "Anyway, nobody named Pabbie lives here."

"Okay! Okay, cool, I"m… yeah. My bad."

"Your what?" That seemed to confuse her, but she shook it off. "Nevermind, it's totally late. Sorry we couldn't help."

"No problem! Sorry to… wake you up, or whatever! Goodnight!"

Well crud. That was pretty much Anna's whole plan. Now where was she supposed to go?

The familiar-yet-unfamiliar house left behind, Anna found herself wandering the streets aimlessly, heading in the direction of the town but not really intending on going anywhere. It wasn't the first time she'd roamed the streets – when the house got too suffocating to stand, she used to go to the local park and just hang there for an hour or two.

With that thought came another guilty one: she'd told her mother she'd be home before long but it had been hours. She wondered, briefly, whether she would be angry or disappointed.

Instead of an answer, Anna felt herself feeling those same emotions herself. They gave her the fuel to keep walking until she found a 24-hour laundromat with a vending machine. At least it was food. Putting in a couple of coins, she punched the number for a Whatchamacallit bar. It tasted a little different, but it was probably just really old; who knew how long it had been in there. Sitting down on one of the courtesy chairs, she ripped into the bar, hoping the sugar could give her just a little energy.

No such luck. Before long, she felt her eyes drifting closed. She didn't even try to fight it; her exhaustion was too bone-deep.

~ o ~

"Move it!"

The harsh voice pierced through her veil of sleep effortlessly. It still took a moment for Anna to be able to peel her eyelids open enough to look up into an unfamiliar face. Asian woman, and one who looked less than thrilled with her.

"Wha…?"

"This is a laundromat, not a hotel!" she snapped as she kicked one of Anna's shoes. "And either way, you haven't paid to be here, so either wash some clothes or get out of here!"

Standing, she scrubbed at her face. "Alright, alright." Then she woke up just enough to add on, "Sorry, I didn't…" But she couldn't completely string together her thoughts enough as sleepy as they were. Instead, she just hopped away from another kick and headed outside.

And she gaped in complete shock.

The Dell Valley Courthouse Square was packed with people, the way it usually was. But the people were… different. She saw more shoulderpads, flashy colours, a few multicoloured mohawks than she tended to encounter. Plus, an absence of cell phones in hands. And there were more of them; by now, a lot of those people would be a little further uptown in the business district instead. Why were they all hanging around there?

And then there were the stores. That toy shop was a GameStop now, that deli was a Verizon store. She knew for absolute certainty that Burger King had a much newer sign, it had been replaced years ago. Plus the slogan on the marquee, "Aren't You Hungry?" was unfamiliar…

"No," she breathed as she stumbled across the street. A car had to slam on its breaks to keep from running over her – and she gaped as she saw it was a bright red Ferrari.

A guy with a mullet leaned out the window and shouted, "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, BIMBETTE!"

She was almost too shocked to even respond. "Bimbette? Seriously?" she breathed, eyebrows drawn together. But he honked again, so she hurled herself the rest of the way across toward the square in front of the courthouse-

Which suddenly rang out with loud, echoing chimes. Nine o'clock.

"What the fuck is going on?" she breathed, crumpling to the sidewalk. She was used to that courthouse clock  _never_  having worked in her entire life. Either someone had done some major renovations while she was asleep, or…

It was real. Everything was; the Doc's invention, time travel, all of it. She had been sent back to the past.

She sat there for God-only-knew how long. Well, actually, she did know for how long because the clock tower was working! Eventually, she roused herself, but not until she gave herself a moment to panic. It was a big deal, and even considering the night before-

Oh. If this really was the past, then that meant that she'd really been at the mall last night. That Olaf had been sent two minutes into the future. Her mother had cried.

Doc was dead.

Feeling the tears threaten to overflow again, Anna pulled herself to her feet. That was, technically, thirty years away. Right now, she just had one priority: find Doc. If this really was the past, then Doc wouldn't be dead  _yet,_  right? So all she had to do was figure out where he was instead. But how was she supposed to do that without any internet? How did people of the past Google other people?

Walking up to the nearest person who seemed like they wouldn't bite her head off like certain irate laundromat owners, she bit her lip and gathered her courage. "Excuse me," she began. "You don't have like… a people directory or anything, do you?"

They gave her an odd look. "You mean the… phone book?"

"Yeah, that!"

"Do I look like I'm carrying one? Try the café over there." They pointed, and Anna turned her head. When she looked back, to thank them, she could see their rhinestone-covered back as they walked away.

"Rude." But that didn't matter. Now she had a goal. This time carefully checking for traffic, she crossed the road.

The little cafe was roughly where the Cafe 80s was now. Or, well, 'now' being the time period Anna was used to. Which she supposed was the future, to their way of thinking. The inside of the place was pretty run down. It looked as if it had been open since the 50s and gone through multiple owners. The young woman behind the counter had a beehive, but it looked as if she put it on and took it off for work.

"Yes?" she asked with a sigh.

"Um… do you have a, uh, phone book?" She just barely didn't ask for a 'people directory' a second time. "Like, somewhere? Or know where there's one I can buy?"

"You don't buy a phone book," she scoffed, looking at Anna as if she was an alien. "They give them away at your house. Can't you go home?"

 _Nope, sure can't,_  she thought to herself. "Sorry. I just need to find somebody."

Nodding, the woman thumbed over her shoulder toward the pay phone on the wall in the back, and the book dangling from it by a metal chain. As she moved toward it, she caught the name "Tiana" on her plastic nametag. Why did that sound so familiar?

The next trick was figuring out how to actually use the damned thing. Anna resolved to never ever make fun of the older generations for having difficulty with technology – she couldn't even figure out a book. Eventually she did – or so she thought. There was another moment of panic when she couldn't find any Pabbies in there at all. And then realised she was looking in the wrong section anyway; he wasn't a "business". After that little mishap, she finally managed to find him. There was only one Emmett Pabbie in the entire book.

Ripping out the page – they probably weren't going to miss it, she hoped – she walked back over to the counter. "Hey, d'you know where Knope Avenue is?"

"Nope. Are you gonna order or what?"

"Nope for Knope, huh?" Sighing, she ran her hand up and down her face. "Um… fine, gimme a Monster." She really needed to wake up.

"Uh, Halloween was last month," Tiana laughed, shaking her head. She looked like she was running out of patience, but at least she wasn't as irate as the owner of the laundromat.

"An Amp?"

"Do I look like a music store? Now unless you're done messing around, I got dishes to do."

Right; this was the Eighties. Energy drinks didn't exist, and they probably wouldn't be selling them in a diner like that, anyway. "Um… I don't know, a Coke?"

"New Coke, Old Coke, Cherry Coke, or Diet Coke?"

"What the hell is New Coke?" Shaking out her head, she then said, "Okay, okay. Is Pepsi still the same or do I have to pick an age of Pepsi?"

Laughing even more at Anna, the woman turned back toward the fountain and reached into the cooler, bringing up a can of Pepsi. "Sorry, I don't have it from the fountain. But the canned stuff is still good."

As she was staring openly at the can, with its design completely alien to her, she happened to look up and catch the waitress in just the right light. Unable to help herself, she whispered, "Wait… Tiana  _Rose-Wilson?"_

Fortunately for Anna, she seemed not to have noticed – in fact, she'd already moved on to the next customer, bringing them out a bowl of something. Picking up her Pepsi, Anna took a cautionary sip. It tasted weird. Not bad, just… different. She was about to take another one to figure out just what had changed, when the little bell above the cafe dinged.

"Hey, McFly!"

The voice was loud and rude and sounded really familiar. Anna was more surprised that someone had recognised her. She turned around, the boy standing in the door tickling her memory. Just as his voice was familiar, so too was his face. Her mind just couldn't make the connection.

"McFly! I'm talking to you!" The boy took a few steps forward. Anna shrunk back. What did he want?

Not her. Much to her surprise, he walked right past her to stand in the personal space bubble of the boy sitting next to her.

"Oh, uh, hi, Hans," the boy said. God, he looked pretty pathetic. A greasy combover, his shirt dirty and unbuttoned. He'd been eating some sort of porridge-gloop that had, unfortunately, dribbled down his front.

But no amount of small changes would throw her off recognising someone who played such a big role in her life. Anna couldn't help but stare –  _he_ , she most certainly knew. However, her quiet little squeak of,  _"Dad?"_  went entirely ignored, just as her recognition of Tiana had.

"Yeah, butthead! Thought I told you never to come in here!"

"Sorry, Hans," he sighed, looking sincerely apologetic. Why? He had done nothing wrong, he was only sitting there, eating his gloppy breakfast so unobtrusively that Anna hadn't even noticed. Her own father, thirty years younger and right in front of her, and she hadn't noticed! What kind of ghost  _was_  he?

"Yeah, well this is gonna cost you. I want that book report back shinier than ever."

Squirming on his barstool, Kristoff McFly cleared his throat before he tried to answer. "About that; I figured tomorrow is Sunday anyway, so I'd have until tomorrow night to finish it up and-"

"McFly, McFly," the younger version of Hans Tannen tutted as he reached up to pat her dad on the shoulder. His black leather jacket creaked from the effort of holding in his muscles; they were pretty impressive, even if the owner wasn't anything like a decent human being. "I gotta take tomorrow night to rewrite it, or the teach can tell I didn't do it. You know what happens if I hand in a report in your handwriting? I'll get kicked outta school. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"

When there was no immediate answer, his hand fisted in the front of Kristoff's shirt. "WOULD YOU?!"

"N-now, of course, Hans, I wouldn't want that to happen!" As he was dropped back onto his stool, Anna had to white knuckle on the counter to keep from flinging herself at the asshole. "I promise, I'll get it done tonight and run it over to you before lunch."

"Gnarly. Much better, much better." Then he patted him roughly on the cheek. "Knew you'd see it my way. Later, dweeb."

Once Hans had left, the anger Anna felt went with him. She slumped a little, staring at Kristoff McFly. He just went back to his breakfast, scooping it into his mouth no neater than a five-year old.

All she could do was stare. It was so  _weird,_  seeing him so young but knowing she wasn't hallucinating, and he wasn't an impostor, or some distant cousin. She would know her own father anywhere. The longer she spent in the past, the harder it was for her to pretend none of this was real.

Her staring was interrupted when he flung he spoon down. Anna flinched as some porridge went flying with it, but Kristoff ignored that.

"What?" he demanded. There was the fire! Where had it been when he was being terrorised?

"You- you're Kristoff McFly!"

"Yeah? So what?"

But Anna couldn't tell him 'so what'. Even as she fumbled for an excuse – a reason that wasn't crazy – to talk to him, Tiana slid back up to them again from where she had been watching.

"Why you gotta let him push you around, boy?"

Suddenly, Kristoff seemed very small. "Oh. I mean… well… it's not worth it, and there's more of them than of me… doesn't matter."

Tiana just sighed. "No good is gonna come from you listening to that sad little voice in your head," she said. "You gotta stick up for yourself. If you don't, who will? My motto has always been, 'Stand on your own two feet and face the world'. Or boys like him will run roughshod over you. Take it from me."

And that really was her motto. Crazy as it was, Anna had figured out who she was, and couldn't believe she was sitting here in a cafe, watching her serve Pepsi and oatmeal. But she had been hearing that particular phrase all her life, in political ads on TV and radio every other Autumn like clockwork – ironic, since she wanted to have the Clocktower renovated.

Meanwhile, Kristoff snorted. "From you? I know you're trying to help, but like… you're a waitress, and a girl. What would you know about dealing with bullies?"

Even as Anna's eyes widened at how rude he was being, Tiana clipped him around the ear. "Yes, from me, turkey! Just because I ain't some kinda hotshot executive don't mean I'm gonna be a waitress forever. I'm going to night school. I'm gonna be someone, just you wait!"

"Mayor!" Anna crowed, unable to keep from interrupting "You're gonna be mayor!"

Poking her finger at Anna, Tiana grinned. "Exactly!" She danced around to the other side of the little cafe. "Like the way you think, girl! I'm gonna be mayor and clean up this town! I'll-"

Whatever she had planned was cut off when the old woman in another matching beehive shoved a broom into her hands. "You can start by cleaning up the floor."

But even as Tiana was grumbling in annoyance, Anna found herself distracted by something else. Already, Kristoff had left a few bucks on the counter and silently excused himself from the diner while nobody was looking. Anna did the same; she shuffled some change loose from her pocket and grabbed the Pepsi on her way out.

"Dad! Kristoff! Hey, McFly!"

Just barely, Anna managed to keep his bicycle in sight by chasing after him, until she got to a familiar street. That was when she lost him. Turning on the spot, she drained the rest of her soda and tossed it into someone's bin as she ran a hand through her fringe. This sucked; her only lead to something familiar besides the address folded up in her pocket, and he was gone.

Or wait – that was his bike, wasn't it? Propped up against the tree. Sighing, she ambled over and tried to figure out where the owner had gone.

Until a leaf fluttered to land on her shoulder. Glancing down at it as if it were going to bite, she then looked up into the branches… and there was her father.

There was her father with a pair of binoculars.

There was her father, focusing a pair of binoculars on a window across the street so he could get a better look at what was inside. And when Anna followed his gaze, she had a hard time blaming him.

' _That girl has some nice tits,'_  she marvelled to herself. But then she closed her eyes and shook her head out. What were they doing?! This wasn't right! Sure, she would never have looked if not for him looking, but that didn't mean she should  _keep_  looking. And Kristoff should stop, too. As little as she thought of him for not standing up for himself against Hans, this was a new low. On top of everything else, did she have to find out she had a  _perv_  for a father?

Unfortunately, it seemed he was about to be even lower. Even as she turned away from the tempting flesh in the window, she saw Kristoff slipping. His hands scrabbled for the bark, but after a few seconds, he was crumpling in the middle of the road with a slight scuffle and a grunt of pain, impact slightly cushioned by his huge backpack.

' _Shit.'_

On the one hand, he probably deserved that. Scratch that- he  _definitely_  deserved it. Spying on someone without their knowledge was a whole other level of disgusting and Anna felt a little bit of shame taking root in her heart. On top of that, why couldn't he be as interested in himself, and in not getting walked all over, as he was in that girl's boobs?

But just as Anna was about to sit on a fire hydrant to wait for him to recover, she noticed something. Something that he obviously hadn't, because he was still moping and groaning on the road like the wuss he most definitely was.

There was a light blue car hurtling along the road. The driver wasn't looking – even from the distance, Anna could see him looking down towards the centre console. It wouldn't have been a phone, so he was either fiddling with the radio or tapping out a cigarette.

But he wasn't going to notice Kristoff. Not in time. There was no time for her to think.

"LOOK OUT!"

Kristoff had risen to his feet, just barely, but enough for Anna to have plenty to grab as she pushed him entirely out of the way. A telltale screech of tires filled the air – the driver finally noticing, just a tiny bit too late – as a thudding pain exploded along her side. Pain in her head quickly joined in, and just before everything went black, she found herself longing for a comfy bed and her mother's voice.

_To Be Continued…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Christmas or whatever from Fruipit and Jess!

Crying. Tears running down pale cheeks, Punz asking why she was leaving. Bells rattling around in her head…

The dream was mostly gone even before Anna fully woke up. Someone was in her room, moving around in the near-darkness. Maybe it was her mother. After a fight like they had, she normally wouldn't want to see her, but anything familiar was a most definite welcome sight after so many nightmares. And occasionally she could be motherly, right? It wasn't totally out of the question.

"Mom? Is that you?"

"Shhh," her mother soothed her in a gentle tone. Relief washed over Anna as her gentle hand caressed her forehead with a damp cloth. "Just relax. You've been out for almost nine hours; we were starting to worry."

"Oh… oh man, what a crazy freaking dream." She couldn't quite muster the strength to sit up yet, but she managed to clear her throat and sound a little stronger as she felt herself begin to relax. Her mom was here. It was all going to be okay.

"How crazy are we talking?"

"Insane-crazy!  _Jackass_ on speed levels of crazy! Like, Doc was dead, and… and I travelled back in time, and dad was a total loser…"

There was a light chuckle. Much lighter than she was used to from her mom; easier, as if she hadn't spent the past couple of decades doing nothing but smoking and drinking. "Back in time? Rad. Sorry to have to tell you that you're stuck in the 80s again. It's just dullsville."

Anna sighed and relaxed back into the bed… for an entire three seconds. Then her eyes shot open.

"Dullsville? Rad?" The next phrase she repeated was half-shouted:  _"Stuck in the 80s?!"_

Suddenly, the bedside lamp flicked on, and her mother's familiar features came into view. Except… they weren't quite so familiar. And Anna felt her jaw hit the floor.

Just as she had so easily accepted that the greasy-haired milquetoast from the café was her dad, she knew what she was seeing was her mother… as a teenager. Not Mom, the frumpy, frazzled housewife with bags under her eyes from sleepless nights and hangovers, dirty-blonde hair pulled into a hasty ponytail to keep it from getting in her face while she did housework. No, this girl was trim and fit, her ample bosom –  _'A familiar one,'_ Anna suddenly thought, her peeping father's target of choice flashing back into her mind for a second – holding her crop top black tee up over her trim waist. Immediately below her tiny navel lay the hem of her jeans, much higher-waisted than any pair Anna normally saw. The most stark difference was her hair; turned white-blonde with peroxide, a braid hanging over one shoulder with the bangs gelled up into a fanning swoosh.

Her mother was plain and pitiable.

This chick was  _hot._

For some reason, that last thought snapped Anna out of her trance and she jerked upright – her strength, it seemed, had returned. "You're my- my muh-" There was a lump in her throat and in her chest. She couldn't get the words out. It didn't seem to matter.

"My name is Elsa," she said, biting her lip. "Elsa Baines." Sinking onto a chair opposite the bed, Elsa ran a hand through her messy fringe, pushing back a few strands that had fallen forward. Anna tried not to watch.

Of course, the alternative to watching was speaking, and that wasn't going so well either.

"You- you're so–" A multitude of words came to mind. Sexy. Cool. Beautiful.

Young. Way too young to be possible.

Finally, Anna settled on, "Thin. You're so th-thin."

The word wasn't nearly good enough to convey what she was thinking. Her eyes roved over this young version of her mother, taking everything in. The way she smiled, so easily. The way her eyes seemed to light up just from talking to some stranger in her room. The roundness of her face, so youthful, and the way it was mirrored in the curves of her body – which did include a very trim waist, which she had never seen on her mother before.

When she caught herself staring at Elsa's chest, entirely too long to be appropriate, she tore her eyes away.

Elsa gave a little giggle, though she seemed a little less sure of herself. Her cheeks had pinked a little, and Anna observed the same intense interest in which she had just surveyed Elsa paralleled. "Frankie say 'relax', Victoria. My dad hit you with his car and you have a massive bruise on your head."

God. She had to get out of there. Swinging her feet over the side of the bed, it took all of two seconds to realise that something was amiss. The way Elsa's cheeks reddened further did not help.

"Where are my pants?" Anna felt like she was about to break into hysterics. This wasn't fair! Elsa looked away, though the colour in her cheeks didn't fade.

"They're uh, over there," she said, pointing towards her door. "On my grandma's hope chest…"

Oh God. Was that a come-on? What was a hope chest? There was that dude in Glee who had one, it was for dowries or something. Of course, Anna didn't have a chance to think too deeply upon that because once more, Elsa had begun to-  _tease_  her? Was that what was happening?

"I've never seen underwear like yours, Victoria," said this younger version of her mother. "They're so… fancy." It was obvious that "fancy" was not the word that Elsa wanted to use.

"Victoria… why do you keep calling me that?" She struggled to pull the blanket back over her legs again, very self-conscious.

"Well, that's what it says on your underwear," she giggled. "Lame to the max, you should ask your mom to stop sewing that on or you'll be the biggest geek in school. But… at least I know your name."

Only then did she notice that Elsa – her mom, whatever – was sitting on the bed with her. That didn't bother her… until the look in Elsa's eyes told her that maybe it should. It was the same look she caught from Jennifer when they were alone, without the rest of the band teasing them. And it terrified her.

"Sorry," she whispered, looking down and smiling the tiniest shy smile that made Anna's heart seize in her chest. "They probably call you Vicki or Tori. Those are such cool names… unlike mine, which sounds like some old German hausfrau."

Unable to help herself, Anna patted her shoulder. "H-hey, names are whatever. I actually… go by An- Tori, though." Perhaps it would be better if she didn't use her real name right now. But Elsa was too distracted to really take in her words. She had never in her life seen her mom act like this! It was so bizarre – she was both really bold, and also shy and demure at the same time. Her hand drifted over to trace down along the platinum braid absentmindedly, entranced by all these differences.

"O-oh, you like it?" she asked in an excited whisper, clear blue eyes lighting up along with her rosy cheeks. Anna inwardly scolded herself for doing something semi-flirty, even if it hadn't been on purpose. "I was trying to do the 'Til Tuesday thing, from the video, but my mom won't let me cut my hair to make it a little rat-tail; that's where she drew the line. I only got to bleach it because my hair's so light anyway."

"'Til Tuesday?" she asked in a dazed tone, and Elsa nodded emphatically.

"Yeah! I saw them in the fall, and it was  _tubular_ … a life-changing experience. Aimee Mann is so totally  _rad."_

Anna couldn't take most of that in, except for the mention of Aimee Mann and the part about not being allowed to cut her hair. Ironic, considering her mother had done the same thing when she wanted to get a pixie cut to really sell the 'rock look'. So she couldn't help smiling as she said, "I think it looks badass."

The excited look slipped a notch. "Bad… ass? It looks bad?"

"NO! No, it looks great! Um… awesome?" That was a word they used in the 80s, right? She must have said something right, because Elsa's falling face did a complete 180. Her smile was honestly brighter than the lamp on the bedside table.

And she became suddenly aware that Elsa had gotten even closer. Her eyes flickered between Anna's before they dropped, just a little. It was pretty obvious what she was looking at.

"You don't… mind if I sit here, do you?" Elsa asked.

Anna's mouth opened and closed several times. How could she answer that? Of course she didn't mind – this was the younger version of the mother she didn't really have. The differences were night and day, and Anna wanted to get to know her. She almost  _needed_  to find out what she had been like before she fell down the slippery slope of alcoholism and depression.

But it was obvious that Elsa wanted to get to know her in turn, and in ways that sent a shiver up Anna's spine. God, this was the 80s. Girls openly hitting on girls wasn't even a thing yet! Nevermind the many and varied other reasons it definitely would not be happening.

"N-no. Not at, uh, not at all," Anna stuttered, scooting back on the bed. Hopefully it just looked like she was shifting positions. Her eyes widened when Elsa smirked and leaned in just a little bit closer, raising a hand towards her freckled face.

Elsa was saying something about her bruise, but Anna didn't hear her. In her panic to get away from that gentle hand, she ended up tipping over and off the side of the bed, taking half of the sheets with her.

"TORI!" Elsa sprung forward, crawling on her hands and knees to look down at the mess of a girl on the floor.

And she was  _still_  smiling. Anna's heart seized even as she jumped to her feet, wrapping the blanket around her waist to preserve what little dignity and modesty she had left.

"Maybe it didn't matter whether or not we hit you with the car," Elsa was giggling, standing up from the bed and stepping closer. "You seem like you're a little, um… uncoordinated?"

"You can say 'klutz'," Anna sighed, heart pounding in her chest. Why did she react that way? Her mother had pet her face many times in the past. Sure, not as often as she wished she would, but there were times when she acted like a real mother.

"It's alright. Everybody has off-days." But she had been too nervous and confused to realise their bodies were closer again. It wasn't in quite the same way Jennifer would sidle up to her; this younger Elsa was more nervous and uncertain about her movements, hopeful yet afraid. Anna wanted…

She wanted to comfort her. Or at least, let her know in some small way that she didn't find her totally disgusting. To soothe that nervousness and uncertainty, even if she knew she couldn't quite give her young mother what she seemed to be angling toward.

"Um… are you sure you're okay?" Elsa's perfect little mouth whispered, from a lot closer. "I'm sorry, I keep asking that. I guess… I don't know. For some reason, it feels really important to, like… make sure you're not gonna die, or barf."

Based on her previous thoughts, Anna grasped the hands that had been heading for her neck and squeezed them gently. There; a more platonic gesture. "F-fine, Elsa. Thanks for… y'know, making sure."

Somehow, however, that wasn't as platonic as she had thought it would be. They were holding hands. Elsa was so close – and the blanket had fallen away, dropping yet another barrier between them. The entire situation was unreal, and insane, but this really didn't feel like the kind of reunion a mother and a daughter ought to be having.

No, this felt more…  _intimate_.

That could be a side-effect of rarely – if ever – having moments of closeness and bonding with her mother. It could also be a side-effect of comparing Elsa's actions with Punz's, but Anna didn't think she could blame the situation on that entirely. It was becoming quite obvious that, in another life, she and her mother would have gotten along really well. They'd do the mother-daughter bonding thing. Anna would be able to gush about girls and boys and anyone in between or outside. Elsa would laugh and tease her. That was lost to them because she now fully understood that a lifetime of bitterness had all but destroyed this carefree, smiling sweetheart with the punky hair.

Maybe that was why this time, when Elsa leaned forward, Anna didn't fight it. She trembled like an Autumn leaf, eyes wide and watching. Elsa looked to be in much the same predicament. A little closer and they would actually be part of each other's lives in some small way. Wasn't that all she had been hoping for all along? For her mother to really  _see her,_  and not just try to force her to conform to arbitrary standards. A real, meaningful connection.

Pink frosted lips were so close now. Their hands squeezed—

"Elsa?! Where are you?"

The moment was shattered, like glass impacted by a bullet. Anna wasn't sure whether to be happy or upset about that as Elsa jerked backwards – if they'd been on the bed, Anna guessed she probably would have fallen off it, too.

"My mother!" Elsa hissed, the colour in her cheeks draining. "Shit- put your pants on-"

"Elsa?"

"Coming, Mom!"

Anna didn't have a chance to say anything before Elsa was sprinting from the room. The bleach-blonde paused by the door, just for a second, shooting a lip-bite and a wink at her before she was running off, leaving Anna alone.

"Wha… I… huh?!"

That was as articulate as Anna could make herself as she grabbed her jeans, trying to force her stocking feet through the legs as her eyes took in vague impressions of Til Tuesday and David Bowie posters, a Rubik's cube on the dresser next to hair products that were  _definitely_  harmful to the ozone layer. What was this version of Elsa McFly- wait,  _Baines –_ going to do? What was her furthest-thing-from-queer MOM going to do when she leaned in like that? Her heart knew, but her brain shut that down completely – refused to accept it. Moms didn't do things like that to their daughters. Hell, she would be fine if they never did things like that at all.

And her body was left twisting in the wind. With all of her thoughts and feelings focused elsewhere, she somehow managed to overcompensate and land face first on the puddle of blankets on the floor. She could at least count herself lucky that she didn't end up with a bloody nose.

~ o ~

"There you are," Idunn Baines said when she came out. Her face was a little disapproving, but Anna knew from her own experience that it was probably her clothes; she still reacted the same way, even thirty years older. Or younger, or whatever. "We thought we might have to call an ambulance if you slept any longer than this."

"Oh… I'm s-sorry, Gra- uhhh, Ma'am." That was close. "I, um, I was trying to help…"

"Elsa told me. She got it out of your father that you were trying to save that boy." Her frown turned a little more gentle. "Most people wouldn't have bothered these days; back when I was young, neighbours looked out for each other, but in these modern times…"

"Blah, blah, Mom," Elsa grumbled under her breath. Anna wanted to laugh out loud; she had never heard her badmouth Grandma Baines that way! She found herself glancing between the two of them like she was watching a ping pong match.

"And where did you get this life preserver? Are you a lifeguard?"

"Mom, that's the style now! Don't be so majorly lame!" What a stroke of luck that fashion was cyclical.

"Young lady! I know you want to impress your new friend, but there's no need for that kind of language."

Elsa flushed red, which only made Anna want to laugh more. That was the grandmother she knew.  _"Moooom!"_  Elsa hissed. To save her further embarrassment, Anna moved over towards the table – though that action seemed to be enough to make Elsa forget her brief moment of humiliation. She pushed Anna towards another chair at the very end, making her sit and then taking the spot next to her. Anna felt very cornered.

She wasn't given a chance to make any kind of escape, either, because there was a hot plate of food placed in front of her. "I hope you like casserole!" Mrs Baines said. Anna didn't, really, but it'd been a whole day without food – and that was only if she actually counted the pitiful lasagne from last night as food. It wasn't like she'd actually eaten much of it.

As the saying went, hunger is the best spice. Anna found herself wolfing down her grandmother's casserole, thinking it didn't taste quite so bland as she was used to. All the while, sparkling blue eyes remained focused on her, and she finally swallowed and flashed a weak smile over at her.

"Sorry, I know," she muttered. "Don't forget to chew it."

"That's what my mom always says," Elsa giggled, glancing down at her plate shyly. "And I was thinking it, but… I mean, you're a guest. Eat however you want."

That made Anna smile. How sweet was this younger version of her mother? Why couldn't she be raised by  _her_  instead of the drunken asshole she would later become? The universe really could be a douche sometimes.

"Oh, hey," Grandpa Edgar remarked as he groaned and stood up from the table. "I hope you don't mind, but 'Murder, She Wrote' is coming on. Though since you jumped out in front of my car…"

"Edgar, stop," Idunn reprimanded him as she returned from the other room with the other children: Seamus, Marlene, Marty, and baby Joey. Anna didn't know her aunt and uncles very well, other than that Joey was a bit of a troublemaker. "You know she was only trying to help that other classmate of theirs."

"Don't forget you promised to let me watch that Bowie interview, Dad!"

"Elsa, you know you're not allowed," her mother said instantly, as if she had the response prepared ahead of time. "Just because your father has the memory of a sieve – men wearing  _makeup_. What is the world coming to? First Elton…"

She shook her head, obviously disapproving as she went back into the kitchen. Elsa stared glumly at her food. Anna couldn't help herself. She nudged Elsa, whispering to her, "Don't worry. I love Bowie. China Girl is a classic."

Elsa offered her a small smile that was bursting to be a bigger one, but carefully restrained. Anna could see her bite the inside of her lip. But then something seemed to have twinged her memory, because she frowned and turned to Anna to whisper, "Hey, um… Why haven't I seen you around school?"

"Huh?"

"Well… you're pretty wicked. And wicked pretty. I know I'd remember your face if I'd seen you before." The last was said with a slight lilt of intentions – one that her father and brothers missed completely, as they were straight men completely absorbed in the jaunty theme song floating out of the old tube television that sat on the nearby bar.

Oh shit. What could she say? Fumbling for an excuse, Anna decided that a half-truth was better than a complete lie. "I, er, I just got into town today." She wanted to thank Elsa for the compliment, but that would mean acknowledging the meaning behind the words, too. She didn't want to leave her hanging, though. "And you're pretty… pretty… too," she added quietly.

It seemed to have done the trick. Elsa's restraint failed and her face split into a wide grin, eyes lighting up.

"Victoria, you look familiar." Grandma Baines had wandered close now, a couple of bowls of ice cream in her hands. "Do I know your mother?"

Side-eyeing Elsa, Anna could only give a generic, "Oh, maybe…"

The old woman nodded. "Perhaps I should give her a call-"

 _"No!"_ Anna didn't mean to interrupt, honestly, but chances were that her phone number didn't even exist. When everyone turned to look at her, including Elsa, she felt her face heat up. "I mean, uh. They're not, um, not home. At the moment. I'm staying with my… Doc…"

"Your doctor?"

"Uncle! My uncle, Doc Pabbie… y-yeah." She sounded like the world's worst liar.

"Ohhh… the one in the estate up past Maple." She and her husband shared a look, though the children didn't seem to be in on it. Anna knew that look well; everyone thought Doc was crazy. She and Punz were the only ones that knew he was just really passionate about his work, to the point where he seemed a little off in all other areas of his life. And even then, Punz still thought him odd, so really it was just Anna.

"Sure. Anyway, um… he's probably wondering about me, so I could just-"

"After dinner," Elsa insisted. Even she heard the urgency in her own voice, so she cleared it and shrugged. "To show how sorry we are that you got hit. You could even spend the night, since it's so late."

Offhand, Edgar grunted and cracked open a can of lite beer. "A poor girl like you, at this time of night? I gotta agree, doesn't sound too safe. At least let Elsa drive you home in the car so you don't walk around in the dark."

Anna definitely didn't want to think about what might happen if she was alone in a car with this version of her mother so late at night, let alone a dark bedroom. Not that she was sure anything would… but it seemed wiser to be safe than sorry.

"Um, okay, she can drive me back. Th-thanks, everybody."

~ o ~

The rest of the dinner fared a little better. The family was too engaged with their television to ask any more seriously probing questions. Either that or they didn't want to know any more – not after that revelation that she was "related" to a crackpot.

However, too soon was she trapped in a car with her mother – the last time she'd seen Elsa drive, she was seven years old and being driven home from her gymnastics class. Anna had come last in a small competition, and they'd stopped for a treat. Elsa had bought a giant sundae to share, and it was one of the few good memories Anna had of them together.

She had the impression that Elsa also had a treat in mind, and it wasn't so innocent as ice-cream.

"S-sorry we have this old grody Flintstonemobile," Elsa chuckled as they drove through the streets. Anna had already given her the address, and she knew how to get there by heart. "Um, I want my own car but we can't afford it. My parents barely even let me borrow this one as it is. But I want something really bitchin', like a Miata. Wouldn't that be rad?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling gently at her enthusiasm. Her mother used to care about things besides shouting and drinking. It was… dare she say, cute?

"So, um… do you wanna go anywhere first? I could just say I got turned around to excuse the extra time."

Swallowing hard, Anna looked over at her. "W-what? I mean, where would we go? I don't… it's kinda late."

"Wow, what a dweeb," she giggled, shaking her head. The way her white-gold hair bobbed and swayed with the movement mesmerised Anna. When she pulled up to a stop sign and saw her looking, she smiled awkwardly. "What?"

Ducking her head, she muttered, "N-nothing. Just, um, wherever you want to go, I g-guess."

That seemed to be just what Elsa was waiting for. Instead of turning off, she stayed on the main road all the way to the center of town. It was late and quiet, and everything seemed to be shut.

"What are we doing here?" Anna asked as the car pulled to a stop. Elsa didn't answer at first. Instead she got out of the car. Following suit, Anna wasn't prepared to have her hand grasped, or to be tugged along.

"Come on!" Elsa said, heading towards one of the last stores to have its lights on. It looked familiar…

"Is that- the Café 80s?" Anna asked, struggling to keep up. Elsa gave her a look.

"What? Why would they call it that?" she laughed. "This is Lou's Café. They make the best milkshakes in the whole county, and, well, since you're new in town, I guess it's my duty to buy you one."

Milkshakes? Was that all? At least it was something fairly innocent; she had been worried Elsa would kidnap her and take her to a hotel. Or worse.

Now that she wasn't still in the middle of the world's largest panic attack, she could appreciate that at least the mid-Eighties decor looked a lot more organic, and wasn't plastered with nostalgic posters and designs. The "New Coke" sign was actually placed there to advertise the drink to customers, though it looked a little worse for wear. Elsa didn't worry about any of that, though, and dragged her straight to a corner booth.

"You really come here just for milkshakes, huh?"

"For sure. And fries, though I'm too full from dinner to order any now." As they sat down, Elsa smiled across at her, cheeks glowing. "What kind of milkshake do you like?"

Smiling, she laughed, "Come on, you know I…" Then she had to cut herself off. No, Elsa didn't know that. And she wouldn't know it for about twenty more years. "I m-mean, you know everybody loves chocolate. Though I like mine with a banana thrown in."

"You do?!" Elsa leaned in a lot closer. "Gag me out the DOOR! I love that, too!"

Somehow, Anna managed to act at least slightly surprised. "Wow, you do? That's awesome!" Considering it was Elsa who first gave her a choco-banana milkshake, she sort of figured as much.

"Omigod, this is so choice, I can't believe we-" Ready to burst with glee, she waved to Tiana over at the counter. "HEY! Two of my usual, Tiana!"

"No problem. You on a hot date?" Tiana asked. She shot Anna a look that said  _I recognise you from earlier_ , and Anna gave a sheepish chuckle.

Unfortunately, Elsa misinterpreted the laugh as being directed towards her. Anna turned to her and found the blonde completely mute, face red with mortification from the teasing and what she perceived as Anna joining in. Exactly like a girl who didn't want to be discovered doing something she shouldn't be. She wondered whether Elsa's complexion would ever return to normal before realising exactly why she was blushing.

"Oh, um. Well, we only met today," Anna said, so quickly that it sounded like there  _was_  something. She barely managed to hold back the wince at her words, and a feeling of trepidation crawling up her chest at what she was about to add and what it might imply: "So I'll let you know."

It didn't help when Tiana gave her a grin, but her words did. "You know I'm just pulling your legs. Every girl needs a friend to have late-night shakes with."

"Yeah, yeah," Elsa piped up, not taking her eyes from Anna. "We, uh, we're just hanging out. So take as much time as you need to prep these milkshakes, okay?"

The waitress pursed her lips as she smiled knowingly. Once she was over at the vintage milkshake machine, adding scoops of ice cream to the metal glasses, Anna whipped back around to gape at her mother.

"Okay… so… um-"

"I-it's okay," she whispered really quietly. "Tiana's always kidding around like that. What a major dork."

Anna took a deep, calming breath. She placed both hands flat on the surface of their table. "Elsa-"

"You don't have to say anything. If, um… if you think I'm the way she said, like, she's crazy, okay? But I know I've been acting a little  _queer_  since you woke up – and that's totally my fault. You just seem really cool, but I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable…" After a moment of strained silence, she rolled her shoulders as her face got even redder, and this time not for a fun reason. "J-just, um… don't say anything to anyone. Please? Especially not my parents. I don't want to spend the rest of high school as 'the dyke'; I already get called that anyway, since I keep turning down the boys."

How scared she looked. Anna immediately rounded the table and squeezed into the bench seat next to her, curling an arm around her shoulders. Elsa started, blinking up at her with those baby blues that anyone could get lost in.

"Hey, no. I would never do that to you, okay? God… I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, no, it's… I'm the one spazzing. Sorry." Clearing her throat, she smiled up at her. "Is it weird? That when I saw you laying in my bed, I just… I was like 'Whoever this is, she's awesome'. And I thought we could be… friends, or… or something."

When Elsa bit her lip again, for some reason, that was the moment Anna knew she was  _truly_  in trouble. Before, she had only been worried that this younger version of her mom was some kind of sex-crazed maniac who wanted to bang everything and everyone that moved. Apparently, it wasn't everyone.

It was just Anna.

"Hey, no, it's not weird." She had to be really careful with what she said now, even though her mind was spinning. Elsa needed her here, in this moment – not thirty years in the future. And even though she didn't quite want to mess with her brain, she also very suddenly knew this might be her only chance to head off her eventual hatred. Nobody had ever taken the time to do that for her mother.

Rousing herself, Anna focused on the present. That future Elsa didn't matter. Though she was starting to piece together the broken puzzle that was her mother, the girl sitting next to her was not that woman. Not yet, at least, which meant that Anna had a chance to do some good. Perhaps encourage her mother to maintain her open world-view instead of letting her parents teach her to close it off.

"It's not weird because… well, where I come from… a lot of things are different," she said softly. How much did she want to reveal? Enough to bring that smile back. "Back home there's a uh, there's a girl. And we're not anything  _more_  than friends, but we could be, yknow?" She sucked in a breath. Moment of truth. "I bet in the future, girls can even marry other girls, and boys can marry other boys. Wouldn't that be baller- I mean, uh,  _totally rad?"_

Elsa snorted. "I'd pay good money to see that." But still, she smiled, and that was really all Anna was after. That slight lessening of her anxiety about this topic. "So, um… weird question. But if we were in the future, or where you're from… us two girls… would I be the kind of…?"

"O-oh. Well hey, you're uh, you're very gorgeous, Elsa," Anna admitted, lifting a hand to scratch at her head.

"I am?"

Both girls were beet red at this point, though Anna was saved from having to answer by Tiana. The two shakes arrived in two matching glasses. Elsa pulled hers closer as Tiana gave them a healthy wink and left, then glanced over at Anna.

"Um… I'm not flipping out anymore, you can totally go back to your side of the booth if you want."

"Nah, I'm good." Elsa's brow creased, and Anna had a feeling she had said something in a weird way again, but she decided to blow past it quickly instead. "Even… even though we just met, or whatever… well, we're friends. I think we can sit next to each other while we drink these if we want."

With a firm nod, Elsa stirred hers briefly with a straw. "Okay. Rad."

They both took a long, full drink. At the same moment, they pulled off their straws and moaned "Choco-banana…" When they heard each other, they giggled, Elsa covering her mouth with one pale hand, her hot pink nails catching the fluorescent lights from above.

"Gotta say, it's too bad you're already interested in that girl back home," Elsa said. The tone was somewhere between flirty and casual, but a lot closer to casual than before. "I, um… I haven't had much success with that in this town. With anyone, really. Guys fall all over me, but they're usually jerks. It's… hard to know who might be, um, on the softball team, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, I know that feel," Anna agreed. Then, a thought struck her. "So… is it like… exclusively girls?"

Elsa choked on her milkshake, sputtering out a, "Victoria!"

Giving a soft chuckle, Anna shrugged. "You can call me Tori if you want. Anyway, it was just a question!"

Still, Elsa shook her head. "What- what if someone heard?"

They both glanced around the empty shop. Tiana was stoically ignoring them, even though she probably knew everything that was going on between the two. Anna shrugged. "I don't care. I mean, it's just us girls in here, but if someone else walks in… who cares? What are they gonna do about it?"

No longer at risk of choking, Elsa took the straw between her lips again and took another sip. Anna had the vague impression that she was doing it to waste time. Finally, she whispered, "Girls are cute. Boys are nice – I mean, have you  _seen_  Michael J. Fox? – but I guess girls are more… appealing. Softer."

The final word was nothing more than a murmur; her eyes had shut as she said so. It meant that she missed the smile that tugged at Anna's lips; by the time she'd opened them, Anna had fought it down. Instead she was looking into the depths of her own milkshake. "Yeah…"

"You really like…?" But Elsa didn't finish asking; she didn't seem to need to. "Wow. Gnarly. I mean… I thought I was the only one in Dell Valley. Or it really felt like it sometimes. I'm lucky Tiana isn't lame, or I'd already be… y'know."

"Out?" she guessed before taking another long sip.

"Out… of the closet? Totally."

Hugging her from the side again, she whispered, "You're doing just fine. Exactly the way you are, Elsa."

"Really? Because with the boys telling me I'm too pretty to keep dumping them, and my mom asking why I never bring any boys home… I start to wonder."

Moment of truth. Anna knew that she would have to sell this if it was going to make any difference. Even if Elsa weren't technically the young version of the woman who gave birth to her, even if she were a total stranger, she would have done the same thing.

"Don't wonder. If you already know yourself, then you can't let anybody else tell you who you are."

That seemed to be all it took. Letting out a long sigh, Elsa relaxed as she laid her head on Anna's shoulder. For her sake, she ignored the little thrill that shot through her stomach at the sudden nearness. "You make it sound so easy…"

"It's not. I mean, I guess you already knew that. It helps when you have a support network. My friends know. They're real assholes about it – but only coz they want us to get together. They ship it, heh."

"Ship… what? I don't get it." Elsa's eyes furrowed, but she didn't question it further. She did ask something else, though. "So… your parents are supportive, too?"

"Hah," Anna snorted. "They're the 'if I ignore it it'll go away' kind of people. Especially my dad. My mom…" Looking at the girl still resting on her shoulder, Anna's heart sunk. "I don't know how my mom feels. I thought I did. Sometimes I think she hates me. Most of the time, really, but maybe… she doesn't. I dunno.…"

"Oh. That sounds really heinous – like, what's her problem? I can't imagine hating you."

Voice catching, Anna picked up her glass and drowned the milkshake. So she wouldn't have to mentally unpack that statement and how it flew in the face of everything she had thought her entire life. "Speaking of parents, shouldn't we be getting a move on?" She tried to smile, and though Elsa returned it, it was weak.

"I guess… not that I really want to. But sometimes we don't get what we want."

"Yep." She had heard that plenty of times from her mother, too.

* * *

_To Be Continued…_

* * *

 

BONUS: This artistic representation of 80s Elsa was, again, done by [Prince](https://twitter.com/proncproncpronc)!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the future! We thought today was a good day to provide a much sooner update for our McFly girls (even if you won't see much of Elsa this chapter). Enjoy some plot and self-reflection!

The drive to Doc Pabbie's house was quiet. Anna was made to pull out a gigantic book of maps –  _"It's an atlas, Vic- Tori. Gosh. How tiny is your town?" "Heh_ _…_ _yeah_ _…_ _"_  – to navigate the streets. It wasn't until they arrived at the Doc's surprisingly normal-looking house – much nicer than the little shack he holed up in by the time 2015 came around – that either said anything of actual substance.

Anna had opened the door, hand coming to unclip the belt, when Elsa's fingers touched the backs of hers. "Will… will I see you at school?" she asked, looking at once very small and vulnerable.

Anna swallowed. What could she say? Blinking, she tried to urge the tears away. Tonight had been… well, eye-opening. But she had no intention of staying longer than necessary. She didn't belong in this time.

So instead, she offered a little shrug. "I'll uh, I'll see what Doc can do about maybe enrolling me. I don't think I'll be around long enough for that, but maybe…"

"I see…" There was a valiant effort at hiding her disappointment as her mother nodded. "Thank you for hanging out with me for a while," she began softly. "Hopefully you and your mom can sort all that out. I mean, at least you had the courage to tell her. My parents…" She shook her head, and didn't continue.

"Y-yeah… I- same. They know but they don't love it. But, I guess… knowing you don't hate me is nice. It's almost the same, heh." She gave one last smile before throwing herself from the car, not giving Elsa a chance to respond to her cryptic words.

However, there was one little hitch Anna hadn't anticipated. When she got to the top of the walk and knocked on Doc's door, she glanced back to see Elsa waiting. Making sure she got inside safe and sound. Ordinarily, the gesture would be touching, but right now it was inconvenient. How was she supposed to get Doc to let her in so she could explain?

As it turned out, that didn't seem to be a problem. The man opened the door… and displayed himself to be wearing a glowing contraption on his head that made him look like an extra in a low-budget sci-fi flick. Immediately, he grasped Anna's shoulder.

"Don't say a word!"

"Uh, I-"

And then she was being jerked inside.

~ o ~

It took the better part of an hour for Anna to get Doc to listen to her. First, because he was trying to read her thoughts through a suction cup and focused completely on the task at hand, and then because he flat out didn't believe her. No matter what she said, no matter what she showed him from her wallet – her driver's license, social security card, student ID, family photo from the Grand Canyon – he didn't seem to buy it.

Until she finally saw the bandage on his forehead. "Hey, where'd you get that?"

"None of your business," he grumbled, trying to steer her toward the front door. She was still trying to get over how much blonder his hair was, how young his skin looked. "Now then, Future Girl, if you're through spinning tall tales, I need to get back to a few of my experiments. But thank you for a night's entertainment!"

"You don't have to tell me. I already know." The progression came back to her, and she held up a finger and pointed it straight at his face. "You were hanging a clock in your bathroom, standing on the toilet, and you slipped and hit your head on the sink. And while you were unconscious, you had a dream about the flux capacitor! Which… is what makes… time…"

Her voice faded away as she realised he was goggling at her in shock, already-large eyes looming even larger above her own. The man took a few stumbling steps backwards. For just a second, she worried she had somehow made him angry – until he spoke.

"It… worked? HaHA, IT WORKED!" And then he was completely ignoring Anna, dancing a cheery little jig on the spot with his fists in the air. "An invention of mine  _worked!_  Oh, thank the heavens! They told me it would never happen – 'crackpot' indeed!"

"Uh, Doc?" But no, he was too far gone. He seemed barely aware that there was anyone else in the room with him. That is, until she came up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Doc!"

He didn't stop, as such. He just seemed to freeze, waiting for her to continue. With a weary sigh, she slumped.

"This is amazing for you and all, but I just… want to go home. And I don't know what to do; the car's not working, and… and I'm stuck here."

A little at a time, the excitement began to fade – or rather, it was still there but simmering under the surface of compassion and professional interest. "Hmm, I can understand that. As far as years go, 1985 isn't the most exciting thus far. Oh, how are Reagan's policies holding up in the future? Wait, no, don't tell me! Anyway, yes, yes, I owe it to my future self to make sure he finishes the experiment. I assume you need some more gasoline? Or have they figured out perpetual motion by then, the unified field theory? Cold fusion?"

Chuckling to himself, he looked at Anna expectantly. Looking away, she mumbled something under her breath.

"I'm sorry, dear, didn't catch that."

"We're gonna need some, uh… plutonium…"

His eyebrows raised up toward his much-lower hairline. "Really? Well, I'm afraid that what's left of my family fortune won't pay for THAT. Though by the 2000s, I'm sure you can find  _plutonium_  at any corner drugstore."

"Not… exactly." Then she cleared her throat. "Anyway, I, um… I think something's wrong with the starter. I parked it in a garage in an empty house; it's supposed to be MY house but nobody lives there. So maybe we can just stick a new starter in it, and we'll be good? Maybe there's some plutonium left in the back? I dunno…"

"Over in Aren Estates, or Hilldale?" He wasn't paying close attention, but at least he was following along, pacing up and down. "Yes… that's safe enough for the time being. We'll wait until after midnight and then drive over there to haul it back here with my van and I can examine the problem firsthand."

"Aren Estates. Doc, this isn't just some experiment; I'm really worried about this. This is my whole  _life_  we're talking about!"

"Well, first thing's first; we get the time machine safely tucked away in my garage. Then we can see if there's an alternate fuel method to replace…" Again, he shook his head and laughed weakly, beside himself. "Plutonium. It's so gloriously simple; a nuclear reaction would definitely generate plenty of power, if it could be adequately contained. Now we just have to figure out how much is needed."

Sitting a little straighter, she said, "Oh, that'll be easy. Doc – er, my Doc – made me record the experiment so we have footage. Though, I'm not sure how we'll get an SD card to work with your… older equipment."

At that, his eyes lit up, and the reason was obvious. Anna would love a chance to see future-technology, so she could only imagine how an actual scientist felt. Still, it wasn't really going to be as exciting as he probably hoped it was.

"This is indeed a rare treat! Now the only thing to do is repair your vehicle and send you back. I'm just glad something of mine worked, to be quite honest," he said. The self-deprecation was evident, and Anna's heart went out to him. Having so many unfounded theories and being known for it throughout the entire town was probably lonely.

"Yeah, Doc, I get you. How about I run into town tomorrow and get us a cake or something? Like, we should be celebrating a successful test, right? Even if I'm still stuck in-"

"Oh no! No, no, no, my dear girl. You can't set a toe outside this house! It's a good thing you came straight here. If you had spoken to anyone, you may have accidentally altered the course of history. Your future! Even speaking to  _me_  isn't without its pitfalls, but I understand it's unavoidable…"

Anna froze. Doc didn't notice for a moment. He was still waffling on about butterflies this and chaos that, but when Anna ceased to engage, he finally noticed and slowly turned to her.

"You…  _did_  come straight here, right?"

"Well… sorta?" When Doc didn't say anything, and the silence grew too heavy, she swallowed and pressed on. "I was going to – I went to your house, the one you live in in 2015, but you weren't there. Someone else was. S-so, um, that's one person. Then I went to a café and looked you up in the people direc-  _phone book_. But then, er… things happened?" He stared more, knowing she wasn't finished, and her head dipped a little lower. "Long story short, I talked to my dad and the mayor, then I was hit by a car and woke up next to… my mom…"

"Your MOTHER?!" Doc exclaimed this in the same tone of voice as most people would say 'You've been SHOT?!', and Anna winced at the sharpness the volume. After a moment of shock in his face, he finally shook himself and stumbled over to grasped her shoulders.  _"And_  your father?"

"Hey, it's not like they knew it was me! Mom thinks my name's Victoria, for fuck's sake!"

"Let me see that photograph – the one in your wallet." Anna wasted no time whipping it out and looking down at the familiar faces of herself, Wendy, and- "AHA!"

"Wait a minute… John's head is gone. What the…?"

"Just as I thought," Doc breathed. His gaze was now distant, his voice hallowed with fear. "Erased from existence. You have altered the course of history; your mother either will never meet your father, or it may be something as simple as a few minutes' delay. The tiniest of divergences in the timeline could be enough to prevent them from ever marrying, falling in love, and conceiving you and your siblings."

"Conceiving me and my- wait, Doc. Are you trying to tell me…" Thinking this deep wasn't Anna's strong suit, but she did her best. "Did I stop myself from ever being born?!"

"In a word – YES!"

Suddenly, the implications weighed down on Anna with the force of a dump truck. "Whoa… this is heavy."

"Well, on the upside, you seem to be adapting to era-appropriate lingo," he muttered, still examining the photo. "What did you do?" He finally turned to look at her. "It's astounding that you could influence so much in so little time. The speed with which the impact on your future has occurred is mind-boggling! If you weren't in danger, I would find it fascinating that it appears to be a rippling effect rather than instantaneous alteration…"

Well, there was no denying it. Pretty soon Anna herself would be erased from existence, too, so it was time to lay all her cards on the table.

"CliffsNotes version: I saved my dad from being hit by Grandpa Baines's car, and instead it hit me. When I woke up my mother was there, uh… kinda sorta… hitting on me? Tried to tell her I already have a girlfriend but it didn't do any good. Oh – and she thinks you're my uncle, by the way, that's my cover."

"She also thinks you're available, from the sounds of it," Pabbie groused. "But how would such a brief meeting with you alter history? Soon you'll just be a faded memory – or you should have been! There must be something else about this that prevents her from creating offspring with your father."

Her father. Oh God. Suddenly the entire evening made sense. This hadn't been any old car accident, it had been  _The_  Accident. With capital letters! Sinking low into a chair, Anna had to clear her throat several times in order to speak. By the time she did, Doc was sitting on the coffee table across from her, eyes wide and waiting.

"So like, Mom always tells us the story of how she and my dad met. It was mostly supposed to encourage me not to date since like, 'fate finds a way' or whatever. She thought true love happened like  _'that'_ , y'know?" She clicked her fingers. When she looked up at Doc, there was a fierce edge in her eyes. "Grandpa hit  _me_  today. Mom put  _me_  in her bed, not my dad. She probably doesn't even know who he is…" And now, with her stupid meddling… would Elsa even be interested in Kristoff? It certainly didn't seem like it.

"This is very unfortunate. If she is fixated on you in the same manner in which she was fixated on your father because of the incident with the car, there may be no way to reverse this disaster."

Anna squinted at him for a brief moment. "Um… I gotta say, I'm surprised you're taking it so well that my own mother is trying to bang me. Also, that we're both girls. Also, time travel." Although, it was starting to make sense. It was obvious that Grandma and Grandpa Baines disapproved of "alternate lifestyles", so the younger version of her mother would probably jump at the chance to "fall" for a boy.

Convince herself it was a phase. Where had she heard  _that_  before?

Doc's hand waved back and forth as he began pacing again. "Oh, homosexuality has been a facet of human culture ever since humanity existed. Haven't you ever read up on Ancient Greece, or Rome? Really nothing new under the sun, Future Girl."

"I suck at history." But now she thought maybe she should look into that. Something about scientific observation of homosexuality in a variety of animal species flickered in the back of Anna's mind, which would probably also help explain his nonchalance. Shaking her head to rid it of the stray thoughts fluttering around inside, she then said, "A-alright. Um… so what should we do? There has to be some way we can at least  _try_  to get them back together!"

"We'll have to observe them. Figure out a time and place that we could interfere again; normally, I would refuse to do that, but with the damage to the timeline already so severe, and your life at stake…" Sighing, he glanced at her briefly. "You seem like a nice young girl, but the consequences are far more dire than simply your life. Failing to rectify your mistake, or doing so in a way that only made everything worse, would create a time paradox."

"Pair of what?"

"How can I put this in terms an average high school student would understand?" He muttered to himself for a moment, ticking off numbers on his fingers. Then he turned and pointed at her chest, eyes wide with the hope that he had adequately translated from Doc to Anna in his head. "If you aren't born, and therefore aren't alive to assist me with my time experiment in 2015, then you  _can't_  come back to this point in time, and undo your own birth. That's impossible. Since it's impossible, time itself will cease to exist; it will cause a chain reaction that will most likely destroy the very fabric of the entire universe."

"I… I could have done all that by going to get a goddamn milkshake with my mom?!"

"Precisely!"

"I…" Groaning, she buried her face in her hands. "Why me?"

"Why you, indeed. In any case, our objective is now clear: we have to get your parents together before we send you back, and we need to figure out how best to do that without causing further divergence from the prime timeline."

"Diverwha?"

"Making a bigger mess."

"Okay, when you put it like that, it doesn't seem so bad. Not easy, but not the worst; I can just introduce them. 'Haaaave you met Kristoff?'"

Pabbie snorted, shaking his head. "My dear girl. No, it wouldn't usually be that hard, however we're on a schedule. Did your mother ever mention a moment where she knew she was infatuated? Did your father propose at a particular time, or did they do er,  _something_  to cement their feelings of love? Perhaps they were tracking when your mother was ovulating so their love-making would stand the greatest chance of-"

Letting out a horrified gag, Anna cried, "Eww,  _ewwwww,_  Doc! You think I wanna think about my mom's ovulation?!"

Still, the thought was less horrifying than it would have been a year ago. Here she had actual proof that her parents weren't always old and gross. That they were her age and did usual teenage things like getting milkshakes with their crush – and had  _needs_  and they did things to sate said needs. A soft warmth began to build just below her navel as she thought about that thirsty look in her mother's eyes…

God. No more of that, ever, if possible. Sucking in a breath, Anna forced herself to focus.

"There was a… a thing. They kissed for the first time at it or something. I don't remember the name, though… man, I must have heard the story a million times. Why can't I remember right now?"

"That's quite all right. Chances are, it's months away; just try to think about it a little each day and I'm sure it will come back to you, or you'll notice something that jogs your memory. The reason your brother began disappearing so fast is just that you tossed the first big boulder into the stream; it's not a full and complete beaver dam yet. There must be a chance to fix what you have broken or you would already be gone."

Her stomach seemed to disappear at that thought. In fact, Anna pressed her hands into it to make sure it didn't  _really_  disappear.

"Come now, we had better go and find your car before some unwitting realtor does and tries to sell it with the house to boot! And then we'll see what's wrong with it, and make plans to fix your future!"

Throwing up her hands, she turned to follow him to his own garage. "You're the doc, Doc."

~ o ~

It only took about twenty minutes to get to the model house that would one day be Anna's home. Doc turned off the headlights just before they got there, to draw less undue attention – not that it would make much difference. The place was deserted. They backed the van up to the garage before rigging the DeLorean to be towed behind it.

He was like a kid in a candy store when he saw the machine. Of course, DeLoreans existed in 1985 already, but not ones with time circuits built into the dashboard and flux capacitors in the backseat. Or a small nuclear reactor wired into the engine. Anna smiled, never having remembered seeing him so truly full of glee. He almost seemed upset at having to get back in the van and tow it. Eventually though, they were in Doc's garage with a new problem in front of them.

"Alright," Doc sighed a while later, once they had figured out how to connect the camera to his old TV. The technology was a little too new for him, and a little too old for Anna, but together they figured it out. "This should be fine. Sorry about having to cannibalize that musical device of yours."

"No problem," she sighed, cradling the remains of her iPod. It would either have to be destroyed or taken back to the future with her. "Okay… it should be the third or fourth video file."

"Mmm, 'file' you say? This is a computer chip? Ah – there we are, a visual representation of the data as a picture. What a delightfully intuitive user interface! I had wondered if you all use holograms in the future, but this works."

Doc cycled through them until he found the appropriate video, skipping past other evidence of experiments that he swore he didn't want to know about. Something about 'knowing too much about one's own destiny'. Anna wasn't listening very close. She was barely concentrating at all; she was a little more upset about her poor iPod than she thought she'd be. It had gotten her through some rough nights, at least, and was one of the first things she'd ever bought with her own money.

"GREAT SCOTT!" he cried out suddenly after they had been watching for a few minutes. "ONE POINT TWENTY ONE GIGAWATTS?!"

Falling off her chair at the sudden outburst, Anna blinked up at him as she pushed up onto her elbows. "What the hell is a gigawatt?!"

"It can't be done! I'm sorry, but we're through, we're finished!" Tugging at his own blonde hair, wild as it stood out from his scalp in all directions, he began to pace, then eventually simply left the garage and went back into the main house.

When Anna rejoined him, she saw that he was staring into the gaze of a portrait that hung over his mantle – one of Thomas Edison. "It can't be done, can it, Tom? There's no way! Not without nuclear materials, there's no reasonable facsimile!"

"What, Doc?" she urged him, shaking his shoulder. "What can't be done?"

"This! That! Do you see? Nuclear was the easiest option. And it's  _nuclear_! Unless we can get…" he trailed off, mumbling under his breath for a moment, "eight  _trillion_  hamsters, I'm afraid you're out of luck."

"Out of lu- whoa, whoa, wait." Anna's heart more than sunk this time; it shattered. "No, no, Doc. You can't give up now! You- there's gotta be something else, we gotta try!"

"I'm afraid not! It's nuclear or nothing – and I haven't the resources to acquire your precious plutonium! Not without selling this house, and I'm in no position to do that – not to mention it would be highly illegal! How do you think I'm going to fix the time machine if I'm in a federal prison?!"

"But I have a life to get back to! Mom and Dad need me, and…" Did they, though? Never seemed to have before. So she had to think of another motivation for Doc to reunite her with her own time period. Moving closer, she reached into her pocket for the clock tower flyer. "Look, see, I got a girl waiting for me back home." She turned the paper over, showing the phone number with the two little Xs next to them. "I can't– I need to see her again. What'll she do if I just… just  _vanish_  and never make it home?"

Doc slumped in a chair, barely giving the paper a glance. "It's impossible. The only other thing of capable of producing the necessary raw power to activate the flux capacitor is… is a bolt of lightning! Unfortunately, you never know where or when one's going to strike! I'll be able to repair the starter, get the automobile running, but without that reaction… you're stuck in the Eighties, Future Girl."

Throwing her hands up, Anna stood and began pacing – maybe she was a little too much like Doc sometimes. She looked down at the sheet of paper, tears beginning to cloud her vision. Even if she managed to get her parents together, she'd still be stuck here in the past. She'd vanish from 2015. Jennifer would never hear from her again. Chances were that no one would even notice aside from her; certainly not her family. Hell, they might even be happy that she was gone.

There were so many other things she would miss out on; so many things she wanted to do, with a very particular person. Actually call her 'girlfriend'. Have a first kiss. And maybe that wouldn't have been a problem if that damned woman from the Preservation Society hadn't interrupted, hadn't all but shoved her goddamned flyer under their noses. But it was too late to worry about-

Her thoughts came grinding to a halt.  _The flyer._  Somehow she had completely forgotten what the stupid thing was  _for._ Eyes widening, she flipped the number around and read over it again, even if she didn't really need the refresher course.

"Doc! DOC! What if we  _did_  know when lightning was going to strike?" Running back to him, she shoved it into his hands. "What if we knew the exact time and place? Could that do… I dunno, something?!"

He didn't seem to understand at first, but as he read, his whole face brightened. "Great Scott!" he cried, jumping from his chair.

"Yeah! Scott! I mean, that's good, right?"

"Look out, Miss McFly," he told her with a brand new manic gleam in his eye. "We have some work to do."

* * *

  _To Be Continued_ _…_


	7. Chapter 7

"Wow, this place has really gone to the dogs."

Anna and Doc were walking up the steps toward the front doors of Dell Valley High. She really felt silly in the Sears getup Doc had hastily helped her procure: a faded denim miniskirt with fishnet stockings, and the gaudiest top she'd ever seen in real life. A parroting of actual 80s style as interpreted by greedy outlet stores.

For some reason,  _"Time Warp"_  started playing in the back of her head.

"Remember, we're not here to sightsee," Doc hissed, trying to stuff more of his hair up into the porkpie hat he thought was 'inconspicuous'. "We have barely over one week in which to figure this out. One week in which to cement the romantic bond between your parents before sending you back home. The lightning will strike the clocktower at precisely 10:04 PM next Saturday, and that is our only window of opportunity to harness its power to-"

"Yeah, yeah," she hissed as they wandered through the halls. It looked so grimy and dingy. After a moment, it dawned on her that it was because of the renovations in 2009; before that, evidently, it had been even worse. Of course it looked bad. "If we don't catch the lightning bolt, I'm stuck here forever, or until you can grab us some plutonium. I got it."

"Good. And I would rather not try for plan B, as I'm fairly certain it would bankrupt me  _and_  land me in a federal prison. Now… let me know the moment you see either your mother or your father."

Just then, the bell rang, and Anna backed up to the wall and tried to look busy. It was hard without a mobile phone to check incessantly; she didn't know what to do with her hands. She glanced up out of the corner of her eye until she spotted a familiar face, then groaned.

"There's Dad, alright."

Said "dad" was currently stumbling down the hallway, an armful of books clutched against his chest. Following closely, several boys, all of whom seemed to be… kicking him? As soon as he turned around to have a go at them, it became obvious why: he had a huge 'kick me' sign on his back. Anna couldn't entirely suppress a groan. That  _actually_ happened to real people? He had yet to notice her – he was trying to stop the boys, and failing spectacularly. One well-placed kick to his behind had him sprawling across the floor. He stood up as quick as he could, trying to yell at the boys to pick up his books, when a very familiar face stepped into view.

"Mr Weselton?" Anna whispered, more to herself than anyone. "Wow, has he always had that godawful toupee?"

The whole scene was equal parts pathetic and terrifying. No wonder it had taken a car accident for her parents to get together; pity, it seemed, was a fairly strong motivator. Finally – as soon as Mr Weselton had stalked off to harass some other unsuspecting student – she left Doc with a shrug and went over to help him up.

"Kristoff, heeeeey!" she said in a cheery voice, helping to gather his books and papers. She tried not to snort when she saw the words 'Trapper Keeper' on his binder, but then put that out of her mind for the moment.

"O-oh, it's you. What do you want?"

Again, she marveled that he could wind up with  _any_  woman, much less Elsa Baines. "What do I- hey, listen, I just wanna follow up on how you're doing. You know, after I saved you from the car?"

No harm in a little guilt. And it did the trick; he dipped his head in shame. "S-sorry about that. What I was doing… I m-mean, you probably want an explan-"

"Birdwatching, right? You had those binoculars." It was the excuse her parents always gave for his behaviour, which she now knew was a total lie. But she did her best to mask her feelings of disgust. "Accidents happen all the time, my friend."

"Right." He smiled very slightly. This was probably the first time any girl had done anything besides curl her lip at him and call him a nerd. "Anyway, I'm doing okay. How about you? I saw you got hit by that car, I w-wanted to help, but… I don't know, that man was so angry…"

"Yeah, no problem, er… dude." He gave a hesitant smile. Maybe this slang thing wasn't as hard as she thought. "Actually, about that. So, the guy who hit me, turns out his daughter goes here. Elsa Baines? And we got chatting, as y'know, us crazy kids do, and she mentioned like… seeing you around the 'hood. I'm just on my way to see her, you should come introduce yourself."

Whoa, reign it in, Anna. But fortunately he hadn't seemed to notice her terrible attempt at adapting and blending in. Instead, the color drained from his face. "You're not gonna tell her about the- the  _birdwatching,_  are you? Honest, I just like looking at her – not like that! I didn't- I fell because I didn't expect… to see all  _that_. You know. I swear I've never looked in a window and seen…"

When he literally got too flustered to speak any further, Anna put her hand on his shoulder. "I won't tell if you don't," she said, fixing him with a steady gaze. "But maybe… don't do it again?"

He nodded sharply. "Done. Never happen again."

Well, that wasn't so hard. Anna wasn't sure if it was because Kristoff was trying to be noble or whether he was so wussy that he'd agree to anything; either way, it had the desired effect. Turning on her heel, she began walking down the hallway.

Every parent-teacher interview had begun with a 'sightseeing tour' to her parent's lockers. At the time, Anna had hated it, though now she was grateful because she at least remembered the vague area where her mother's was located. Kristoff was quiet for the most part, but when they neared Elsa and her small group of friends, he suddenly became quite nervous. She felt him tug on her elbow, bringing them both to a stop halfway down the hallway. She hadn't noticed them, and Anna doubted she would if they remained there.

"Is she really… interested in me?" he asked, wide eyes looking at Anna. Not a bad looking guy despite his clothes and haircut. If he had a makeover and a stronger personality, she had no misconceptions that he might be able to get a girl.

She had just started to form an answer, "Of course, you're a catch!" on her lips, when she was interrupted before she could begin. As it turned out, she had been wrong about how inconspicuous they were.

"Tori?!" Elsa cried, eyes lighting up and a wide smile on her face. She took a step forward, seemed to realise how obvious it was, and then took a step backwards to compensate. "Hey, how are you this morning? How's your head?"

A reddish hue had already begun to seep into her skin. It was adorable, and it was plain to see that Elsa was the worst closeted queer person Anna had ever laid eyes on. Her heart fell a little as she imagined what small, insignificant thing she would do that might eventually clue her parents in and begin the homophobic rants that all but beat the rainbows out of her. Stupid 80s and their backwards way of thinking.

"Doing great, great. No pain. Anyway… um, this is Kristoff. The boy I saved?"

"Hey," he said, though that seemed to be all he could get out.

What if she split the difference? Tried to tell a little of the truth without revealing the worst parts. "He was  _birdwatching_ , but… I got it out of him that the reason he was by your house is because he keeps trying to work up the courage to… well, y'know."

But Elsa didn't know. Or it seemed like she didn't care, because instead of glancing at him, she walked forward to reach up and gently touch Anna's bruise. "You're sure you're okay, Tori? It's looking a little black and blue now…"

Suppressing a shiver, Anna stepped backward with a shaky laugh. "Y-yeah, fine! So, um… about Kristoff-"

"I was just telling Ariel and Jasmine about you," Elsa went on as if there had been no interruption, barely gesturing to each girl as she introduced them. The ginger with the huge blue eyes kept glancing between her friend and the newcomer, equal parts mistrustful and curious. "How brave you were, and how cool you looked. What was that shirt you were wearing? It had, like, guns  _and_  roses on it. Pretty rad."

"O-oh, it's a band." At the last second, she caught herself – how old  _was_  GNR? "Up- up and coming. Seriously, they're going to be the next big thing."

This was not going  _at all_  how she wanted. The way Elsa was smiling made it apparent that it was going the way  _she_  wanted it to, though. Crud. Anna glanced over Elsa's shoulder, looking at her friends. The ginger – Ariel, she thought – was brushing a thin comb through her hair. The other was buffing her fingernails and glancing over at Elsa impatiently.

Come to think of it, Elsa hadn't really mentioned her friends last night, which got Anna curious. Leaning forward, voice lowering to a whisper, she asked, "Do your friends…  _know?"_

Elsa didn't seem to understand at first; when it finally clicked, she looked like she was about to have a heart attack. She finally looked at Kristoff of her own accord, desperate for a distraction; he was looking at his shoes and trying to make himself seem smaller than he was – a feat in itself.

She didn't even need to answer, because that was telling enough. It was probably stupid to remind Elsa of her burgeoning sexuality, because she looked like she wanted to step even closer.

"Of course they know about you." Oh God. "I was telling them how my dad hit you with his car –

how brave it was for you to save your friend Christopher from the car."

"Kristoff," Kristoff interjected, head lifting for a second. Elsa completely ignored him.

"Right, Kristoff," Anna said. Back on task. "He really wanted to get to know you, but wasn't sure how. Because obviously, you look so hella rad." Seeing their blank faces, she went on, "Rad. Just rad. Sorry."

At that point, Elsa finally looked at him for longer than a half-second, but unfortunately he had chosen that moment to glance over his shoulder at a noise that had come from down that hallway. Like a scared little mouse.  _'Great going, Dad,'_  she thought with a wince.

"Well, it's good to meet him. And to see you, Victoria. I really… I want us to hang out more."

"Great! Then we'll hang out more! Right, Ariel, Jasmine? Kris?"

The girls nodded immediately, but she had to nudge her father before he started and yelped, "SURE! S-sure, yeah, it sounds great. I'd love to, um, out-hang."

Just at that moment, the bell rang. Elsa's friends gave her a nudge, but moved past her. Kristoff was already at the other end of the hallway before it had even finished ringing. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Turning away, she was only a little surprised to see Elsa still standing there. She hadn't noticed at first, but Elsa probably looked even better than yesterday. So much denim – but she wore it well.

"Uh, aren't you gonna be late for class?"

Instead of answering, Elsa bit her lip. Her eyes were wide, and her fingers twitched like she wanted something but was too scared to ask. It only took Anna a moment to figure out what: when she opened her arms a little, uncertain, it took Elsa less than that to throw herself into the hug.

As terrible an idea as it seemed, Anna couldn't bring herself to cut it short. Not when she'd been craving such a thing from her mother for so many years: genuine love and affection. Denying her would only mean denying herself.

"I'm so happy you're here," Elsa breathed. "I was afraid that after last night, you'd… y'know?"

"I would what?" Maybe Anna didn't want to know; the idea hurt. That she would abandon Elsa after finding out that she was queer. But maybe Elsa had been through that once before.

"Never mind," Elsa whispered, pulling back and squeezing her hands. "Um, I'd better get to class; I'd cut, but Weselton always jumps out from behind a rock to catch us. Like our own personal Snidley Whiplash."

Though she had no idea who that was, Anna nodded and patted her upper arm. "Sure, yeah. See you after class?"

"Yeah, of course." Elsa hesitated, then leapt forward to ghost her lips over Anna's cheek. "And thanks, for um… for keeping my little secret."

 _"Our_  little secret," Anna corrected automatically, before realising that she maybe shouldn't do that. But it was too late; Elsa was already skipping off to class, jean jacket and braid bouncing in her wake. Anna just stared after her, all the way until she disappeared around the corner.

She also shrieked when Doc came up behind her. She'd completely forgotten that he even existed. He ignored her shriek, naturally.

"Astounding," he was saying. "Your mother didn't even spare him a glance. And that look in her eyes… well, the very fact that no one has figured out her sensibilities is an utter mystery."

"Oh god Doc, what are we gonna do?"

But for that question, neither had a suitable answer. They began making their slow way out of the school, brainstorming aloud to each other.

"What do kids even do in the Eighties? That uh… hoop with the stick? Jumping jacks?"

"Please, Future Girl," Doc said. "Those were out of style before even I was a boy. No, we need something…intimate. A social event with no expectations. One where they can get to know each other and have a good time at a somewhat leisurely pace. Currently your mother has no emotional opinion about your father. That needs to change."

"Well, I did say we should all hang out. Maybe go to the mall? And that way, I can start kind of, um, pushing them together." Never mind that she felt guilty about doing that now. Clearly, Elsa was more interested in women, and even if she  _were_  going to go for a guy, Kristoff was a terrible candidate.

"That will work for a start." Sighing, he patted her shoulder. "This situation is an unprecedented conundrum, and I don't envy you. But this is of paramount importance. I want you to stay here and keep an eye on those two, while I go back to the lab and work on the DeLorean's starter. I can't take it to an actual DMC dealership with all those components on it, so I'll be doing the work myself, and I'm a scientist, not a mechanic."

Nodding, she turned back toward the school. "Good luck, Doc. I'm… well, I'll do what I can with what I got, I guess. Just hope this doesn't explode in my face."

~ o ~

For the rest of the day, Anna skulked around Dell Valley High, trying to figure out how to do anything to influence the outcome of her parents' relationship. Nothing doing. While in classes, she couldn't even get in there without arousing the suspicion of the teachers, so she was restricted to time between classes, and lunch.

During lunch was when she ran into the biggest, meatiest roadblock of all: Hans.

She was sitting across from Kristoff, picking off his fries and trying to convince him to make the first move in inviting the girls to 'chill out'.

"I dunno. I want to but- well what if they say no?" he asked. "I couldn't take that kind of rejection…"

Anna could understand that – it was why, despite the fact that she knew Jennifer was into her, she hadn't been able to work up the courage to actually ask her out. Still, him mousing around wasn't going to get them anywhere, and she only had a week to keep herself from vanishing.

"Trust me," Anna began. "Once she gets to know you, it'll be true love! But you gotta stop wimping out."

"I know, I know. I just can't help it. Anyway, I'm pretty sure she's interested in someone else."

Anna's blood ran cold. How could he know? Did someone tell him? Clearing her throat, she asked in a very small, obviously fearful voice, "…Who?"

"Hah, who else?" He lifted a hand, still staring at his notebook, and pointed at her – no, wait. Somewhere  _behind_  her. "Hans."

When Anna glanced over her shoulder, she saw Hans was indeed chatting up Elsa. Not that Elsa was the least bit interested. She actually looked incredibly annoyed, if her scowl and hunched shoulders meant anything. For now, it was just talking, but she already knew that Hans wasn't above getting a little physical.

"Read some social cues, buddy," she told Kristoff flatly. "She'd rather kick him under a bus than go out with him."

"That's not really my, um, field of expertise," he went on as he bent low over his notebook, scratching out a line and beginning to write something above it.

"God, what are you doing that's so much more important than your dream girl?" Snatching the notebook, she squinted at it…

And her jaw dropped in shock. All she had to do was read the line 'She put down the laser rifle and reached for his fur-clad hand' before she got the picture – which was just as well, because then the notebook was being snatched right back out of her hand.

"HEY! That's n-not something I let just anybody read, you know!"

"Kristoff… wow, you write fanfiction?"

But the term seemed to catch him off guard – which was at least enough to cut through his flash of anger. Pushing his greasy locks out of his eyes, he asked, "Fan… what? Do you mean, um, fantasy fiction? I'm more of a science fiction guy… b-but anyway, sorry, I'm just not ready to let anybody read this stuff."

That was interesting. Mainly because her father had literally never said a single word about writing. All her entire life, he only complained about work, doted on his alcoholic wife, and chatted about TV or movies. Other subjects were much more incidental, and never once included that he had a love of the written word; sure, he read, but he never  _talked_  about what he read… and Anna hadn't been interested, anyway.

Maybe the rift between her and her parents wasn't  _entirely_  their fault.

"Oh. Well, um… I'm sorry. But hey, maybe you could come back to your furry boy and his laser-chick after we take care of Baines over there, right?"

"I don't know why you care so much," he sighed. But then he frowned over her shoulder. "And anyway, it seems to be going fine between them."

Of course, that was the moment that Elsa's voice rang clear through the cafeteria, "Get lost, Hans!"

He didn't. If anything, he got closer. The whole room had become quiet – not silent, but the noise was low enough that now Anna could actually hear what he was saying.

"Aww, c'mon babe. You don't want the school thinking you're a dyke, do you?"

That got her. Anna could see Elsa crumple. Her heart still swelled with pride when Elsa still stood up for herself, despite how much the words had cut her down.

"I said no, Hans. Now get.  _Lost_."

Clearly, he wasn't taking the hint. "Listen you little–"

Anna moved. Hans was even more of a gross pig here than he was in the future and he was not getting away with it; she would have done the same for any woman, even if they weren't as important to her as her mother was. Jumping up, she stalked over to them. Elsa noticed her first, a smile replacing the frown. "Tori!"

"Alright, Fuckboy McDouche," Anna began. Of course that was when Hans noticed her. Standing to his full height, he made for an impressively intimidating feature.

"What did you call me?"

"You heard me!" Then she noticed everyone surrounding them shared his look of confusion. Oh, right; era-appropriate lingo. "Um jerk-face. Yeah! She said to leave her alone, you jerk!"

Oh crud. He took a step forward, hand curling into a fist in front of her. Then, without any obvious reason why he should, he stopped.

"Excuse me?" Mr Weselton had his arms over his chest, bad toupee still wobbling even though he had come to a stop. "Am I to understand that you have reached a new low, even for you, Tannen? Winding up to punch a  _girl_  half your size?"

Hans switched gears immediately, smiling that slippery, conniving smile of his as he patted Anna on the shoulder. "Sorry, Teach. I was merely going to remind this girl that she shouldn't call people names. Part of my civic duty."

"If you've ever actually stayed awake through a civics class, Tannen, I'll eat my boots. Now, release the girl before you wind up in detention."

She almost hoped he would do it. Hoped he would punch her, and then end up in detention – or even better, give her an excuse to punch him back. All those years, listening to him make lewd comments about her mother, watching him push her father around…

"Right, right." He leaned in just a little more, saying through gritted teeth, "Sorry." Then he was turning and striding away, his trio of idiot friends cackling and pounding him on the back.

"Tori…" Even as the crowd was breaking up, as Weselton was stalking after them, all Anna could see was Elsa, rising from the bench and away from her two friends, who were staring at Anna as if she had literally stepped out of a Jet Li movie. Or was it Bruce Lee in the 80s?

"H-hey, don't mention it," Anna muttered as Elsa grasped both of her hands. Then a spark of an idea came to her; embellishing the truth slightly. "Actually, it was Kristoff who noticed first. I'd never have seen it happening if he wasn't so worried about you."

However, on the subject of her father, all Elsa had to say was, "Who?"

THAT didn't bode well.

"Oh, y'know, Kristoff…" Her voice trailed off when she turned back and Kristoff…wasn't there anymore. He had beaten a hasty retreat when he could see a fight was about to break out. And Elsa was distracted, anyway.

"That was really brave of you, Tori. No one's ever stood up to Hans before!"

"Well maybe they should. He's only gonna get worse, right?"

Neither had a chance to say anything more because Elsa's friends swiftly came up to them. One of them offered Anna a smile and gushed, "Dude, that was pretty wicked!" It was small consolation when Anna's plans to get her parents making babies kept failing, but hey – at least she wasn't unpopular in the 80s. That had to stand for something. What was the term? She wasn't a  _square_.

"Thanks, babes," she said, cocking her head and pointing a fingergun at them like an overconfident dudebro. They laughed, which seemed to be a good sign. "We're all hanging out tonight, right? At… Twin Pines Mall?"

"For sure!" Elsa spoke for them. As if they would argue with her, given the interest of the other two girls and their clearly 'beta' mentality. Her mom was the leader of the pack, alright.

"Sweet!" Another weird silence. "Sweet… of you to agree! With me! Right?"

Luckily, one of Elsa's friends jumped in. "We could see that new  _Death Wish_ , or the new  _Freddy_  sequel?"

" _To Live and Die in L.A._!" the other friend whined. They all rolled their eyes; apparently, this had been discussed before and nobody else was interested.

"Yeah, sure! Why not?" Anna knew absolutely nothing about any of those. Why were all the 80s movies so violent-sounding? Shaking that off, she pulled Elsa aside to talk to her alone.

"Hey… listen. I know this might be a little weird…"

"What?"

"Kristoff." When Elsa only frowned, she went on, "He's kinda nervous around you, because he likes you so much. So just… I know it might be a lot to ask-"

"Don't bite his head off?" she guessed with a slight smirk. When Anna shrugged, Elsa nodded. "Okay, okay. I'll try to be nice to the nerd burger, but I can't pretend that you're not a lot more… tubular."

"O-oh." Oh wow. Even Punz had never been so forward – and that wasn't even really all that forward anyway!

But the worst part was, Anna couldn't blame Elsa. Not about the liking her part, shocking as it was, but about the not-liking- _Kristoff_  part. As sad as it was, she was starting to see why her family hadn't felt like one for a long time. Why maybe her mother didn't seem to like her children, let alone herself. The jigsaw pieces were falling into place: Grandma Baines, the accident, the lack of options…

If Anna had grown up in 1980s instead of the 2000s, she'd probably try and 'pray the gay away', too. Settle for the first guy who came along who  _wasn't_  Hans. Elsa's only choice had been to conceal her feelings and play the role of the straight woman she most certainly was not. Forever.

"Elsa," Anna said, voice barely a whisper. She noticed Elsa's friends lean in a little closer, so taking a risk, she grabbed Elsa's hand, leading her even further away. This wasn't going to be easy… "Look, you can't say things like that, okay?"

Elsa's whole face fell at that simple sentence. "I don't- what?"

Sighing, Anna gritted her teeth and looked away. This situation was so impossible! Here was Anna, a pretty girl straight out of her queer mother's fantasy. How could she encourage Elsa to be herself while keeping herself out of reach?

Fortunately for her, she was saved from trying to speak when the bell rang – she'd never been so grateful for a lunch break to be over.

"I um, I have phys ed," Elsa offered, when Anna didn't say anything. Her head was bowed, and she tried to push past Anna- but her conscience wouldn't let her allow that.

"Elsa, wait." She did stop, and Anna let out a sigh. "I do care about you. This is just really… sudden. Like I said, I have a girl back home, and… and I don't know. But you're definitely a hella- I mean, a wicked… rad… cool girl. Okay?"

Finally, Elsa looked up. She offered a tight smile, but at least it was a smile. "Don't worry. I'll totally be fine. I'll uh, I'll see you at the mall?" she asked softly.

There was such hope in her voice. And- well, it couldn't make it worse, could it?

"Sure," Anna said with a beaming grin she didn't fully feel. "I'll be there."

Smile relaxing slightly, her future mother touched her wrist in an affectionate gesture, and headed off to the gym. Leaving her future daughter wanting to pull her own hair out.

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so based on quite a few reviews we have read, Fruipit and I would like to clear up a few things real quick! No one is "in trouble" and we aren't upset or anything like that; it just seems like it might be wise to cover this in one go rather than reply individually to loads of people.
> 
> 1\. Time travel works in a very specific way in Back To The Future, and that's how it works in this fic. If you change the past, it "ripples" into the future over time; eventually, it will be too late to change it back or course-recorrect. That's why Anna is still alive despite having damaged her own past. However, the future wasn't "always like that" for the person time-travelling. Anna's future is going to be different when she gets there: HOW it's going to be different won't be revealed until she gets the DeLorean nyooming into 2015, but it will not be how she remembers it. To everyone else, they will notice nothing because they have not seen the previous timeline with their own eyes before time-travelling.
> 
> 2\. To that end… no, Elsa was not an alcoholic because of what Anna did in 1985. In that original timeline, Anna had never changed the past, so she had nothing to do with it. This is precisely like Lorraine being an alcoholic purely because she started drinking as a teen in the original movie.
> 
> 3\. Yes, we know you all have a lot of little things you want to point out about how the original movies worked. They were beloved movies for a reason! But we have actually seen them ourselves and understand more than you might presume. Chances are, if you've thought of some tiny discrepancy to comment on, we have already thought of said discrepancy and either disagree on whether or not it's an issue, or have disregarded it for the sake of our fic (or you might be incorrect). While it might be interesting for you to notice these details, that kind of falls under the category of "nitpicking". And just… it's a fun little story, so lay off, will you?
> 
> That's it! Thanks for taking the time to read if you did, and I hope you enjoy the chap!

As Anna wandered around Dell Valley, doing as Doc said and trying not to look too conspicuous or influence anything else, she thought about her situation. And there was so much to think about.

Elsa was her MOM. How could she be attracted to her?! Sure, she was doing nothing on purpose to make her interested but it was still happening. The whole idea made her feel gross.

On the other hand, it also didn't. Sure, the weird flirty component was confusing, but seeing her mother so happy and hopeful, saying sweet things, looking shy… it fulfilled a need in her of which she had only been partly aware. Of course she knew she wanted more love from her mother! But she hadn't realised just how badly she wanted to see her happy until she did, and it was so striking compared with how she normally saw her – miserable, alone, unfulfilled, depressed. Empty. This Elsa was so full of life and love and hope for the future, and at some point, she had lost that.

And it might have been her father's fault. Not on purpose, he clearly also had dreams; he liked to write. Was it really only that they were so mismatched for each other that killed their happiness? It broke her heart.

At last, the time came for school to let out. Deciding to keep up her pretense that she was a student, she made her way back to the campus and hung around by Elsa's locker.

"Hey!" she almost shouted when she saw Anna leaning against it, hands in her pockets and thoughts swirling around in her skull. "How's it hanging?"

"Not bad, just, uh, chillaxing." Elsa cocked her head. "Chilling and relaxing," she added as explanation.

At that, Elsa grinned and snorted. "People talk funny where you're from. What was it that you called Hans earlier? A duck?"

"Douche," Anna corrected. And then winced because this wasn't the point. "Nevermind him! You ready to hit the road?"

"Sure, sure, just lemme put my crud away. We're gonna meet up at the mall about 4-ish?"

Anna found herself nodding. "Cool, cool, cool," she said, She wasn't looking at Elsa, which was possibly why the other girl ultimately leaned forward, grasping her hand. Most of the students had already left, getting out of school as fast as they possibly could.

"Hey, everything okay?" When Anna didn't answer immediately, she took another step closer. "Tori, you know you can talk to me about anything, right? I won't judge you, I swear."

There was nothing Anna wanted more than to open her mouth and spill everything. How was the 17-year-old version of her mother so much better than the adult version? It wasn't fair! But she couldn't. As much as she had already changed in the past, if Elsa knew she would stop being her friend, and being friends seemed key to getting her family back together.

So instead she just wound up saying, "Can- can I have a hug?"

"Ooh, look who's making all the right moves now, Tom Cruise." But when Anna didn't respond to the light teasing, Elsa's smile slipped a notch. "Um… you're serious? You want me to hug you?"

"Yeah. Just…" What could she say that would make sense to Elsa? "Just feeling kinda homesick, I guess. Sorry, it's dumb."

"Ohhh. Awww, come here. It's okay."

Elsa's arms were warm and firm, having readily accepted her new friend's reasoning for needing a quick fix of creature comfort. Anna leaned into the sensation, knowing this was weird, and wrong somehow, but also that it was the most natural thing in the world. Why shouldn't she stop and take a moment to just hug her own mother?

Because it didn't  _feel_  like hugging her mother. This Elsa was hugging her like Anna would hug Merida, or Jane. Or… Punz. Especially the latter, with the slightly shaky sound of her exhalation. They were both a little nervous, since they had barely done this once when sitting next to each other in the diner. And against her will…

"You smell nice," she found herself breathing. Stupid. It was a STUPID thing to say! Wasn't she trying to convince her mom  _not_  to flirt with her?!

"Oh, you like it?" Elsa chuckled, self-conscious again. "Um… it's just Love's Baby Soft. I really want to try 'Obsession', that Calvin Klein fragrance? But my mom saw the X-rated ads, so… yeah, I'm gonna have to buy that on my own."

But Anna hadn't been talking about the perfume. Of course she could smell it, but it was one of the more subtle scents and had mostly worn off by this point in the day. It was only now that her head was buried in Elsa's neck that she could detect it at all.

No, what Anna had been complimenting was the smell of Elsa. Between now and the 2000s, it hadn't changed much – the only difference was that it was, more often than not, covered by the smell of rum or vodka. This scent, the smell of a person, was familiar, from way back when she was a tiny child. Before her mother started drinking and her family stopped caring about each other.

But there was another layer to it, too – one Anna was not very familiar with. The skin between Elsa's neck and shoulder felt warm against her face, and Anna let herself relax further. Her arms slipped from below Elsa's armpits to somewhere closer to her waist, squeezing softly. Her eyelids mimicked the action.

Her mother felt  _so good_  in her arms. The very thought made her want to cry.

"…Tori?"

Finally, Elsa's tentative voice broke through. Anna had no idea how long they'd been standing there, and she didn't care, either. She threw herself backwards, rubbing at her eyes. This was too much.

"Hey, sorry," she said, obstinately not looking at Elsa. Her eyes burned, and she was blinking too much to be natural. "How- how about I meet you at the mall? Got- gotta make sure Kristoff knows when and where."

"Oh… Kristoff?" But Elsa didn't seem to be thinking much about that at the moment; she was watching Anna's face intently, clearly worried. Anna couldn't hold her gaze, and her eyes fell to the floor. "Hey… like, sorry if this is way out of line, but am I doing something wrong? You keep wigging out on me."

Anna dragged her eyes back up, widening them minutely. "No! N-not at all. Like I said, I'm just going through withdrawals. You're… fine."

"Fine as in 'fine bod', or just fine?" Elsa pressed. When Anna only raised both eyebrows, she laughed; it was a laugh meant to protect both of them, to shrug off the deeper questions and try to push through. "Sorry, I know, I need a chill pill. See you at the mall?"

Only able to nod, Anna swallowed hard and tried to turn toward the exit. When she realised Elsa was following her, she nearly stumbled.

"I'm also leaving school, you know," she giggled.

"Oh, right." Slapping her head, she grumbled, "Brain fart."

"What?" Her laughter only got louder. "Did you just say that… your BRAIN had a FART?!"

"Y-yeah! I meant, um… 'no duh'?!" But it was too late: her mother was already losing it, cackling so hard that she was actually snorting with laughter. She had  _never_  heard her find anything that funny! And it was the phrase "brain fart", of all things!

So Anna started laughing with her, and they were both clutching their sides by the time they jogged down the front steps of the high school. Only then did she see Doc's car idling at the curb.

"That's me. I, um, I gotta go."

She had just turned to leave when she felt something stopping her. Looking back at Elsa, at the hand that had reached out to hold hers, she found herself completely mute. And then Elsa's arms wrapped around her once more, with such strength that Anna stumbled back a few steps.

"Els…" she murmured, hands coming to rest on slim, denim-covered hips. She heard her mother swallow hard, the little gasp afterward. But she didn't linger – it wasn't like before. Within a few seconds she'd released Anna, a small smile on her face.

"For the ride home. So you don't feel as homesick."

And then she was skipping away, turning back only once to offer a wave and a smile. Anna lifted a hand to say goodbye, but she couldn't quite force that word out. A different one spilled from her lips instead.

_"Fuck."_

So of course, the moment she slid into the seat next to Doc, he was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Dare I ask how things went?"

"You dare," she sighed while flopping back, hitting the headrest and closing her eyes. "They went bad. You were right, and I was right, and we were right. She's too into me to care about my dad."

"This is, indeed, heavy." Putting the car into gear, he started to pull away from the school and off toward home. "Well, I presume that you have begun to construct a further plan of attack?"

"We're meeting up at the mall later. I, um… I invited Kristoff along, and made it clear he's coming. Maybe if I nudge them enough, I can get them to stop thinking each other is a space alien."

Nodding as he focused his eyes on the road, Doc redoubled his grip on the wheel. Thinking. Then he said, "I know this isn't easy for you, Future Girl. Can't even begin to imagine what you must be feeling. Though can I say, as a casual observer, that you could probably be putting a little more effort into discouraging her advances?"

"The hug? I…" Swallowing hard, she whispered, "It's my  _mom_ , Doc. How am I supposed to tell her not to hug me when…"

The rest of the thought wouldn't come out. How could she tell Elsa not to hug her when the feeling was so foreign to begin with? When she never wanted, never tried, to listen to her youngest daughter, or comfort her? On some level, it was probably a little sick that she could – and willingly chose to – accept this form of affection in place of another, but she couldn't help it. The craving was so desperate that any and all ways it could be sated were welcomed by her heart.

"Alright, alright. My words aren't intended to pass any judgment. Just keep that in mind; if you want your father to seem more appealing to her, then you yourself must seem less appealing. That part is simple mathematics."

He was right, of course. She privately thought that Kristoff McFly was about the lamest candidate for a husband, period, let alone for the incredible creature that was Elsa Baines… but if she didn't want to destroy the universe, or at least herself, she had to send them down the aisle to the altar.

"Guess I got my work cut out for me, huh?"

Doc didn't bother to grace that question with an answer. After having seen Kristoff, he was probably thinking something along those very same lines.

~ o ~

But his words did give her an idea. Obviously Elsa was pretty much infatuated with Anna,  _completely insane_  as that was, so there had to be something to make her seem less… awesome. Less captivating compared to Kristoff. She briefly went through a list in her head as Doc drove them back to his place. She didn't want to do anything drastic to change her personality – and really, Elsa would probably see right through that. But Doc was right. She had to put her foot down. No more moments of weakness.

They weren't meeting up until after four, which gave Anna some extra time to prepare. She had to start with improving Kristoff's look – probably beginning with his oily hair. No matter the decade, it didn't look good. The only consolation was that at least he didn't have a mullet.

Making sure to don her era-appropriate clothing, Anna got Doc to drop her off. Seeing as her license wouldn't be valid for another thirty years, she didn't want to risk it.

Kristoff must have come straight from school because he hadn't even bothered to change. Good grief. Glancing at her wallet, she had a sneaky fifty hidden there that Doc had given her for emergencies. Well, this was life and death – hers, if she couldn't get her parents swapping DNA. Without even greeting him, she leaned up and flicked him in the forehead.

"Do you really think Elsa's gonna be impressed when you're still wearing your shirt from lunch?"

He looked down at his chest. "There's only one stain on it!" he protested – and at least he said it with  _some_  conviction.

"Beside. The point. Kris." She pointed in the direction of the JCPenney's – still exactly where she remembered it from 2015. "I have fifty bucks to waste on you. Don't make me regret it."

Luckily, JCPenney seemed to be where Elsa and her friends were not, so they could do this part without them hanging around and chiding his choices too much. Anna took a good, long look around the clothing department, getting a feel for what was in fashion… even though some of it made her want to laugh. She had to adapt to the environment.

"Start with this," she said, pushing a T-shirt at him.

"With wh-" When he got a good look at the front of it, he gasped and whispered, "I can't wear that! It has profanity on it!"

Glancing down at the white words on the black fabric that asked, 'What Are You Looking At Dicknose', she shrugged. "I mean, you  _do_  want Elsa to notice you, right? She doesn't like guys who act like they own her, but she doesn't want some wimp with a stained shirt, either. This is, like…" What was the word that would mean it was an acceptable middle-road? She went for it: "Rad."

"Rad, huh?" Taking up the shirt, he shrugged. "Alright. Um… I'll try it on, but no promises about buying it."

"Good. That's all I ask."

When he exited the dressing room, still wearing the same jeans and shoes, Anna couldn't believe it. Maybe it was no Cinderella transformation, but he looked leagues better with such a small change.

"We're taking it. Plus, um… this one." Her hand snatched up a Purple Rain t-shirt; she knew Prince was huge back then, he couldn't go wrong there. "And…" Another light pink one with a cartoonish outline of a person on it, lines of interest radiating outward from the little dude.

"All these? Why? I have my own clothes."

"Your own clothes suck. Trust me on this, broseph."

"That's not my name."

Right – the slang thing. She needed some kind of dictionary. For the time being, she just shook her head and steered him toward the front. Anna was pleasantly surprised that the total came to just over twenty-five dollars. Kristoff looked aghast.

"I can't afford that!" he hissed. Anna just scrunched her nose up.

"Dude, I said I got this," she replied. Even better, she had enough money left over for food. "But this is the only time. You don't want your first impression – well,  _second_  first impression – to tell her you're some pig who can't even keep himself tidy. What woman is going to respect you if you can't even respect normal rituals of hygiene?"

The words seemed to be enough, and he shut his mouth. So they went to the checkout, Kristoff still slouching. Anna hoped it was because he was embarrassed about the stain on his shirt. They'd almost made it through when something else caught her eye. It was a CD, advertised as being on sale for $15. The name, a day of the week, was somehow familiar…

Suddenly, it connected in her brain. "This, too," she said. grabbing one and giving it to the cashier. They finally looked a little more interested, and gave a grin.

"Gnarly, man," he chuckled. "'Til Tuesday is really pumping out the hits lately!"

Anna smiled at him. "Oh yeah. Real uh, sick." Kristoff gave her a funny look, but she ignored him until they had paid for the stuff and were threading their way back through the crowd.

"What was that?" he asked. Anna ignored him for a second, looking for a sign for the public toilets. She kept walking as she answered, relying on him to follow her.

"It's a CD, dude," she said. "And you're gonna give it to Elsa."

"What? No! It's- you paid for it, you should give it to her. I don't have that kind of cash."

"Do you like this girl or not?" she demanded, turning around to face him. He stopped immediately, wilting under her stern gaze. When he didn't answer, she softened. "Trust me when I say that I don't mind. That I want to help."

Biting his lip, he looked at her. "Are you  _sure_?" Anna nodded, giving him a smile. He still didn't seem particularly happy about it, but Anna had figured that he'd let it go. He didn't seem keen on arguing with her – at least, not about that.

He had plenty more to say when Anna was shepherding him into the bathroom to get redressed – and once more, it was to splutter at her, "You can't be in here!"

Frowning, Anna looked around. The men's room was undeniably empty. Ignoring him, she locked the door.

"Take your shirt off," she said. He didn't. If anything, he clutched it tighter to his skin.

"Why can't I just go into a stall and change?"

"Because we gotta wash that crap outta your hair first," Anna sighed. "And a wet shirt is not a good look. C'mon, work with me, man."

Still hesitant, he finally lowered his hand. Placing the shopping bag on the counter, he ripped his shirt off. ' _Like a bandaid,'_  Anna thought; getting it over and done with. When the stained shirt joined the new ones, Anna couldn't help but glance.

Her father wasn't bad looking. Not at all. Strong jaw and soft eyes, for starters, but once the shirt was removed, it was plain to see that his physique was actually rather decent; a little pudgy, but that wasn't a bad thing. Apparently he kept in shape to some degree. If he could stand up for himself, he probably could get noticed – in the good way. If she had any remote interest in boys…  _'Nope, still wouldn't,'_  she thought as she shook her head.

"Okay, wet your hair and uh, wash it. No offense but I don't really wanna touch that grease trap." She pulled a face, and Kristoff actually looked quite offended. Shrugging, she didn't take it back. "Sorry, dude, but it's true. Now, hurry up. Elsa's probably already waiting."

"But- how am I gonna dry it?" he asked. "Wet hair is probably just as bad as oily!"

"Wet hair dries," Anna pointed out. "Anyway, why do you think the hand dryer swivels?"

More bickering, more back-and-forth, and she finally got him to lather a little soap into his hair and rinse out some of the grease. It did the trick, more or less. As it turned out, he actually did have a comb with him… which she also made him wash thoroughly before he used it again. After that…

"Oh my God," she muttered, smiling very slightly. "Not half bad, McFly."

He was staring at himself in the mirror, at the slicked-back damp hair and the Purple Rain tee, the less-shiny face. It was an improvement, but he didn't seem to see that; he only saw the bad posture, the person that he didn't want to be. Anna knew how that could be, even if she had better luck than him in refocusing on the positives.

"You really think this is gonna make any difference?" he sighed, brushing up and down his chest and stomach.

"Only one way to find out. Let's go." Out they went, angling toward the food court and trying to find Elsa and her hangers-on.

They needn't have worried. Seated around a table were the mini-clique, just starting to dig into huge floppy slices of Sbarro's. Anna had to smile a little; at least some things were relative constants.

"We made it!" she said with a smile as she sank into a seat. Her head nodded toward Kristoff's bag. "Caught him picking up some new threads." She felt no reason to explain that the shirt in the very bottom of the bag was the stained one from school. She gave him a meaningful stare, and he jerked.

"Oh, I-" he faltered for a moment, glancing at Elsa's two friends. "I got you something…" His voice became progressively smaller as he continued, until he came to the last word and it was barely more than a whisper. At least it seemed to pique Elsa's interest, and she cocked her head. Plunging a hand into the bag, he brought out the CD. He didn't say anything as Elsa took it. She glanced at him, briefly, before her gaze found Anna.

"I love it," she said, words directed at him but not looking at him at all. Her eyes fell to the cover. "'Til Tuesday is my favourite band."

' _Shit._ _Swing and a miss.'_ Upon reflection, it was painfully obvious that the CD had come from Anna; Elsa had never told Kristoff of her love of the band, nor were they really at the point of buying presents; he would have no way to know about it at all. Hopefully she thought that perhaps Anna had only  _helped_  him pick it out. Still, she felt a little dumb for mishandling this idea of hers.

As if suddenly realising that she was surrounded by people, half of whom were almost complete strangers, Elsa jerked her head up as a light blush coated her cheeks. "W-well, uh, the pizza's nice and fresh. Go on, eat a slice!"

"Oh, it's okay. I'll grab my own." Elsa deflated a little at that, but Anna had to remain strong. "Why don't you share with Kristoff? And next time, he can owe you a slice? Yeah, cool, sounds like a plan. Be right back!"

And then she was gone, not giving Elsa or Kristoff a chance to back out of her hasty arrangement. Hopefully.

She returned five minutes later, a slice of supreme pizza and a root beer in her hands. Everyone else had mostly finished, but Anna was pleased that the girls seemed to at least by trying to engage Kristoff. He was gnawing on a pizza crust, so at least Elsa  _had_  shared with him.

"Man, Sbarro's is good, but I do miss Papa John's. Jonesing for their Hawaiian right about now," she said as she sat down. Taking a bite of her pizza, she didn't notice anything was amiss until no one responded. "What?"

"Uh," Elsa began. "I mean. I understood all those words… sort of…"

"Who's Papa John?" one of Elsa's friends asked. Oh god, was was her name? And again, a dictionary would be a  _really_  good thing right about now.

However, her savior this time came from an unexpected place. "Is that like, a pizza parlor near your home?" Kristoff asked. "And um, jonesing. That means like… you really want it, right?"

Mouth still full of food, all Anna could do was nod. With great difficulty, she swallowed. "Uh, yeah. The pizza's not the greatest, but it's pretty cheap. They use fresh pineapple, and it makes a difference."

"Your home sounds weird," Elsa's friend spoke again, dabbing her mouth with a napkin.

"Jazz!" Elsa hissed. Oh, so that was her name. Then she turned back with an earnest smile back in place. "It sounds pretty wicked. I don't know why you came to boring ol' Dell Valley."

"Just… y'know, family stuff." Her eyes flicked back to Elsa and Kristoff; she couldn't help it. Then she had to feed into the lie. "Visiting my uncle. But hey, great to meet new people, right?"

"For sure, I guess." Clearly trying to be diplomatic, Elsa turned to Kristoff. "I mean, it's not like I don't know Kris here. We just… never spoke much."

At that, he hunched his shoulders, but Anna managed to reach around behind him and poke him gently in the small of the back to make him sit up a little straighter. That was going to have to be a habit they both worked on breaking.

"Oh, you know Kristoff," she chuckled as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Always writing, or reading." The last part was a good guess; her father did still read books during his lunch breaks in the future.

"Writing what?" Jazz asked with detached interest.

"Oh, well… stories… science fiction stories, about aliens. You know, like in  _Star Wars?"_

Jazz and Ariel were clearly about as impressed as if he had said 'poems about bread mould'. They glanced at each other, then over at Elsa as if to ask whether or not they really had to continue tolerating his presence any further.

But Elsa impressed both Kristoff and Anna by smiling and leaning against the table with her elbows. "Really? The Star Wars movies were rad; I like stuff like that. Space age fantasy. Are they any good?"

"Oh. Well… to be honest, I've never let anyone else read them. Kind of afraid of the rejection. I mean… you know, when you create something… it's hard to hand it over to somebody else."

"Yeah," Elsa sighed, her smile vanishing as she looked down at the table. "I can only imagine."

Suddenly, a pang shot through Anna's heart as she realised: that was part of why her mother had always been so disapproving of her relationship with Jennifer. Yes, the gay factor was part of it, but she had also been very critical of Wendy's dates, and to a lesser extent, John's. Maybe she was just being the world's most overprotective mother; "creating something" that she had to give to someone else someday.

"They're pretty good, actually," Anna improvised, talking out of her ass. Technically, she had read a single line of one story, so it wasn't a complete lie. "I think he could go pro if he stops doubting himself."

"Nah," he laughed, cheeks flushing with red as he grinned. Jazz and Ariel giggled, but at least they weren't acting like they wished he didn't exist anymore. "Well… I mean, probably not with  _these_  stories. But I have some bigger ideas."

"Spill!" Elsa encouraged him, and the others nodded halfheartedly. If Elsa noticed their relative disinterest, she ignored it.

"Well… alright, picture this: the moons over Alpha Centauri. We start off with humans; I mean, that's who the audience relates to, anyway, right? They're landing when they notice a strange mist rolling in from the north…"

~ o ~

They spent a good hour at the mall, but only ended up moving from the food court in the last ten minutes. Jazz and Ariel left shortly after Kristoff and Elsa began fangasming about fanfic. They didn't use that word, but Anna knew enough to figure out that both her parents were total nerds.

Finally! Something in common. And the best part was they were both really into it. Kristoff wasn't like one of the gatekeeping comic-book dudebros that Anna had come across; he seemed genuinely happy that Elsa understood what he was saying, and even challenged it sometimes. Anna was pretty sure that by the end of that hour, they'd probably planned out an entire Star Trek saga of their own.

The only thing that put a stop to their discussion was when Elsa glanced at her watch. "Oh shit," she said. And then looked up, eyes wide. "I mean- uh…"

She looked like a deer caught between two headlights, staring first at Kristoff and then Anna. Anna just stared at her, surprise written on her face because since when did her mother swear?

Fortunately, Kristoff cleared his throat. "I don't give a shit if you swear or not. I won't tell your mother, either."

And then- and  _then_ , the would-be ladykiller  _winked_. Elsa let out a nervous little giggle, glancing between him and Anna. Her cheeks were a little flushed – a good sign, Anna hoped.

"I uh, I appreciate that. Thanks, Kris. I just- I'm really late. I'll see you both tomorrow, right?"

Anna finally found her voice – well, enough of it to say, "Yeah, sure. Tomorrow…" Giving another smile, Elsa waved and left.

And then Kristoff just  _slumped_. "Oh my god."

"Oh my god is right! What was that?" Now that Elsa was gone, Anna couldn't not look at her father. "Where did that swag come from?!"

"I don't know! It just- it seemed like the thing to do!"

Shaking her head, Anna let out a relieved chuckle. "Well, I think it worked. See, I knew you had it in you!"

"Yes, except I don't even know what 'it' was! One minute, we were talking about science fiction, and then she was suddenly just asking me what else I liked to read, and… it got a lot… nicer. Easier talking to her. I have no idea!"

Cackling, she pounded him on the back. "Told you, didn't I? All you had to do was get things moving and the rest would just… fall into place, man! You're a natural!"

"I am not. Now you're exaggerating." But the blush and the smile told a very different story. This Kristoff, she could definitely see her mother falling for. The greasy-haired boy hanging from a tree and doing unseemly things, not even a little.

So Anna took a deep breath. "I'm not. But you are gonna have to change a couple of your habits – on top of the 'no birdwatching' thing. Obviously she likes who you are inside, but like, shower every day. Wear clothes that don't look like they came from Salvation Army. Simple things that show you actually care about how you look around other people, and that you're a man, not a little kid who can't remember to wash."

"Okay, okay," he sighed. "God, you nag me worse than my father."

Anna wanted to fall out of her seat at that comment.

~ o ~

When she breezed back in the door at the end of the evening, Doc was up to his elbows in wires, tubes, and engine grease. He had been going back and forth between his own experiments and working on the car.

"Success!" she crowed. And then winced when Doc stood up too fast and hit his head. "Oops… sorry…"

Rubbing his head, the expression of annoyance only lasted a short while. Then he was smiling, saying, "Is love in the air? And I mean between those two, not…"

Anna's good cheer rapidly fell away, and she scowled. It was less about the question and more to cover the hurt that he'd even felt the need to mention it. Did he not trust her to not mess this up? But he did deserve a response to his main question, so she brushed past the other bit.

"So far, so good. Like, today went great! But I need to go back to school tomorrow – Elsa's expecting me and Kris to be there. God, she probably thinks we're some kind of two-headed monster or something…"

Now that they knew each other, things were back on track. Thank goodness. It meant that when the lightning hit that weekend, she could go home, without fear of repercussions.

Idly, she pulled out the photograph of her family. The hug from Elsa had helped, but the desire to see her family again –  _her_  family, not these premature versions of them – was still incredibly high. No matter their problems, she still loved them. And now, she had a greater appreciation of her mother and father. Maybe…  _maybe_  they didn't hate her. Maybe they just saw too much of themselves in her and were trying to push her to be her best self, regardless of if their pushing was in the right direction. Either way, it was worth it to try teaching them to love themselves again.

Especially her mother. The past days had proved there was a warm, loving person inside her somewhere. Biting back a small smile at the thought, she held the photo up to the light.

And then her breath caught.

 _"Doc!"_  she cried out. "Doc, come look!"

There was real fear in her voice; probably the only thing that could have dragged him away from his experiments was an emergency, and this definitely qualified.

"Great Scott!" he whispered, taking the photograph from her. "Your brother has completely disappeared!"

"No shit, Sherlock," she huffed, on the verge of tears. "But- but it's all back on track!" Doc was shaking his head.

"We're missing something. You have introduced them, yes, but there appears to be something more significant. Did your parents ever say anything more about how they met? How they knew they were destined for a romantic entanglement, rather than a more passive friendship?"

Shaking her head, Anna said, "No. Mom didn't talk about it much. When she did, she always made sure to mention Dad had basically been run over. And then they went to the dance, and dated for a while, and then they got married and there was my brother, then my sister, and then lucky me."

His fingers snapped so close to her ear that she jerked her head away. "The dance! That sounds like an important social gathering – perhaps a formative one for their emotional connection vis-à-vis 'dating'. You're saying that your elder brother was conceived not long after this dance of theirs?"

"Right…" Anna tried to summon up the dusty old memories, as unimportant to her as they had been back then. "Well, yeah. They met because of the car thing… then Mom took pity on him and asked him if he wanted to go to the dance with her. Now, I'm pretty sure it was just to keep Hans from being gross at her the whole night, but yeah."

"Yes, of course; Tannen. Always a Tannen somewhere underfoot." Anna wanted to ask what he meant by that, but he was pacing again. "Alright, alright. Stick by your parents while I work on things here. This photograph is a very ominous portent, indeed, but it's not an absolute! We may yet avert disaster if we are vigilant!"

"You're the doc, Doc…" But as she bounced upstairs to the guest room that he had given over for her use, she couldn't help looking back at him with worry. Everything in her life was going wrong, and way too much of it was her own fault. How could he be so confident that they could pull her fat out of the fire?

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, between second and third period, Anna managed to find Elsa by the water fountain and pulled her off to one side. She just had to know what she thought of their little 'blind date' the evening before.

It was slightly less favourable than Anna had hoped for.

"It was a  _date_?" Elsa hissed, looking around to make sure they were truly alone. "Tori, you already know…" The way she trailed off, there was no need to specify what she meant. It took Anna a moment to respond.

"Oh, well. You know. Hanging. Where- where I come from 'date' doesn't  _necessarily_  mean romantic…" She almost winced at how terrible the lie was; Elsa's eyes narrowed, scrutinising her, but she didn't remark on it. Slowly, her anger dissipated.

"Look, Kristoff is very nice, and I really appreciate the gift he brought." Here, she gave Anna a meaningful look, which Anna stoically ignored. "I'll be honest, I wasn't really expecting anything like, mega interesting. He's kind of a dweeb." She gave a smile, trying to take the sting out of her words. Perhaps it had something to do with the revelation the previous night, the fact that Anna was still on the slow march to fading away, just like her brother, but she couldn't see the funny side.

"Elsa… I'm sorry to tell you this, but you fangirled with him for like an hour about sci-fi fanfiction. If he's a dweeb, what does that make you?"

"Fan- whatever. Tori, I'm already called names, and I  _hate_  it. Do you know how much worse it'll be if I'm seen hanging around him too much?" Her eyes were wide, and Anna had been about to judge her… when she came to a sudden and unwelcome realisation that this was high school in the 80s. Appearances were  _everything._ But despite that, she couldn't help the way her heart sunk. Sure, Kristoff wasn't perfect, but he was  _kind_. A trait that seemed to be in especially short supply.

"Wow. I just- wow, Elsa." Shaking her head, she looked away. "I can't believe that you'd throw away a good friend just because some other people suck. Yeah, sure, you're called names. Names that, as far as any of the people here know, have  _zero_  truth. I thought you were better than them, but maybe you're not. It shouldn't even matter anyway!"

"Tori-" Elsa reached a hand out, an attempt at placating Anna, but she was too annoyed for it to have any effect.

"No!" she cried, jerking backwards further. "That- what you just said there, that's a terrible thing to say. I think Kristoff is a great guy – he was scared because he thought you were way out of his league. I think he was wrong. I think  _he's_  out of  _your_  league."

And with that, she turned around and stormed off, angry tears brimming. How could Elsa think that? How could she let peer pressure stop her from acknowledging another human being?! Before she could get too far, she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. Turning around, she tried to hide how upset she was, half-expecting it to be Elsa. But it wasn't.

"Kristoff?"

"Hi." It was a simple greeting, and he said it with a simple smile. She was also happy to see that he was wearing the shirt with the palm tree, and he looked freshly scrubbed, hair slicked back again. It was less shiny than she'd come to expect, and it really did wonders for his appearance.

"O-oh. Hey."

"Just wanted to thank you for yesterday… you know, introducing us. I didn't think… well, actually having a chance to talk to her, and it going that well! It was like some kind of weird fever dream." He gave her a look, and he could probably tell that she'd been upset about something, but he chose not to comment.

It gave her a chance to pull together a small smile, anyway. "Hey, no big." When he squinted, she added, "Deal. No big deal."

"Good. Um… so, did she say anything about me? Probably not."

"Now, now, don't go back down the negativity slide into the ballpit of sadness." Sighing, she glanced over in the direction she had left her mother-slash-friend. "Well… she did say that you're nice, and interesting." She had, technically, even if all of that was wrapped around some disappointing superficiality.

"No WAY." Sputtering with slight disbelief, he glanced back toward where Elsa was talking to her friends. Anna thought she looked a little less chipper than she had before they spoke, but she decided not to focus on that for now. "That's… wow, I can't thank you enough! Could never have done any of this without your help."

"You don't have to. I mean, paying me back that forty bucks would be great, but it's seriously no trouble."

Smiling, he hesitated, then offered his hand to shake. "Thanks, um… what was your name again?"

"Anna McF-" At the last second, she managed to cut herself off. She really needed to get a better jump on stuff like this! "Tori. Um… Tori Spelling."

What a dumb pseudonym to pick; it was the first surname that came to mind. Lucky for her, nobody would know who the hell that was for another five-plus years.

"Tori. Well, I gotta get to the library before class, so I'll… see you around?" Giving a small smile, he turned around, offering a wave over his shoulder.

Once she was alone, Elsa began to break off from her clique and head her way. Anna wanted to bolt, but she also didn't want to be petty; in the long run, this wasn't that big of a deal. Just disappointing. And Elsa was fully aware of that, it seemed. She approached slowly, a contrite look on her face. Good. Hopefully she knew why what she'd said had been so bad.

"Tori, can we talk, please?" Elsa asked. Anna looked at her for a moment. She really did look sorry, so letting out a sigh, she nodded.

"Sure. What's up?"

Glancing away, Elsa ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry. I know Kristoff is your friend and I shouldn't have put him down."

"No, you shouldn't have." Anna's words were sharp, and Elsa visibly winced. Grimacing to herself, Anna continued, "But thank you for apologising."

At last, Elsa smiled. The wounded-puppy look lessened, and her eye shone. A look came across her face, and she glanced away again, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "Did- did you mean what you said? That he thinks I'm out of his league?"

At that, Anna gave a small snort, anger dissipating. "Have you ever looked in the mirror? He's got eyes, you know." Elsa's cheeks filled with colour at the compliment, her mouth drawing into a small 'o'. "But I also meant what I said. If- if you hadn't come and apologised, if you hadn't realised how terrible a thing you said was… he would be out of your league. Because he's nice, and he deserves nice people."

Elsa nodded soberly. "I understand. Maybe I was wrong about him. He was polite and friendly yesterday, and he certainly looked good. Honestly, I thought he was kinda dweeby, but I guess I just…" she trailed off.

"Just what?" Anna wasn't going to let her get away with not talking – especially if she was going to say something nice about Kristoff.

"I guess I judged him before I knew him. Which… is what everyone does about me, so that's pretty unfair coming from me especially. Don't know why I did it."

"I think you should tell him that," Anna said. "You nerded out hardcore yesterday, and I mean, more friends is always great." Not to mention the fact that Elsa's friends didn't seem like the "BFF" kind of girls; despite Elsa being the leader of their little clique, she didn't seem particularly close with either of them.

For a moment, her mother simply nodded. Then she shook her head and smiled. "I 'nerded out hardcore,' huh? Geez, you have such a mondo bizarro way of talking sometimes."

"I know, I'm pretty extra."

"Extra what?"

"Extra weird," she sighed, knowing she had done it again and finding it hard to care.

"Oh." Clearing her throat, she then went on, "So listen… I'm kind of out of money, and I know this is a little early, but do you want to just grab a milkshake after school today? My treat, to make up for being a bitch just now."

Anna pondered that. The more chances she had to hang out with her parents, the more likely she would be to positively influence the situation. "Kristoff, too?"

"Kristoff, too," she relented. "And I promise I'll ask Jazz and Ariel not to give him such a hard time."

"Sweet. I mean, um, radical."

Impulsively, Elsa leaned in to give her a brief squeeze, then skipped away down the hall to class, already close to late. Anna tried not to think about how much that scent penetrated her every time they hugged. Tried to push it out of her mind and only worry about her future. What they were going to do if she somehow failed to get them to like each other.

"I really don't want to be in charge of all this," she muttered to herself as she wandered off to the bathroom to hide during first period. "Can I call in sick?"

Fortunately for her, the day did get better. She didn't see Hans at all, and for the second time in a row, no one seemed to realise that she didn't belong. She actually fell asleep in the loo, and was a little late to lunch. Not expecting anything, she got a nice surprise when Elsa and Kristoff were already siting at the same table. They weren't saying much – Kristoff probably too nervous, and Elsa, well… her reasons were anyone's guess, but Anna had a feeling it had to do with their conversation earlier. Her friends were also there; did she not want to engage as much so they wouldn't think she was a dweeb?

But still, she was trying. There was some idle chatter – mostly about classes and homework – but nothing of any substance. Well, that had to change.

Based on that, she actually took her time getting her food, hanging back and watching them. As Doc had mentioned, Kristoff needed to be the better option, and being more available was part of that, right? Elsa could get to know him better and see that they had things in common more if Anna weren't there to distract her.

 _But damn, do I wish I wasn't a distraction in the first place,_  she thought to herself as she finally did join them. Almost five minutes had been wasted as she let her food get cold, hanging back with her tray.

"Hey there, slowpoke," Elsa tittered.

"I'm more of a Slowbro," she joked – and almost facepalmed. "Not… that you'll have any idea what I mean. Anyway, how's everybody?"

"Gnarly," Ariel sighed, examining her cuticles and trying to push them back slightly with the tines of her fork. Anna winced; that seemed unwise, and painful.

"I'd be doing better if he would notice me," Jazz sighed as she looked over at another table, three away from theirs. A tall, dark-skinned boy was laughing and chatting with Hans and his crew; he didn't seem to be part of that particular clique, but they were clearly all on some sports team or other together.

"Maybe you're better off if he's friends with that meathead," Anna observed. But when Jazz frowned, she quickly added, "But what do I know? You aren't always the company you keep."

Ariel scoffed as she moved back to picking at her salad. "I agree with the new girl. Like, why hasn't he made a move on Jazz? She's cute, and has way more going for her than that big ox."

"Nah, Al's alright. Kind of cocky sometimes, but he's not like Tannen or those other guys." They all turned to Kristoff at once. He seemed not to realise for a second, and only after a moment did the three sets of eyes on him seem to make a difference. His head sank down between his shoulders, but Elsa nudged him with her elbow. "What?"

"Go on. What else do you know? Inside scoop from the boy's bathrooms?"

"O-oh, well, I don't really hear much," he said, trying and failing to get out of the situation. "Unless they don't know I'm there. But Al seems decent enough. He hasn't gotten to Tori's level of 'standing up for people'–" Here he shot Anna a smile and she forced one back. ' _Don't remind Elsa_ _that I exist_ _,'_ she thought furiously, _'_ _don't take the focus off yourself_ _!_  "–but he doesn't jump in with Hans' bullying."

"And Hans lets him get away with that?" Elsa asked, curious. Kristoff shrugged. "I thought it was Tannen's Law around here."

"Al's the swiftest forward in the whole state," he explained – even if Jazz and Ariel only exchanged shrugs at that information. "And Hans is only as popular as he is because the team does so well. He wouldn't risk that by messing with Al too much."

Jazz sighed, still looking over there. "Pity this isn't a Sadie Hawkins," she said. "At this rate, he's never going to ask me…"

The entire table looked over to the other one, and sure enough, Al was watching Jazz. At least he looked interested. But then something clicked.

"Wait, there's a dance coming up?" Anna asked. Everyone turned to look back at her. She felt very silly.

"Geez, what school have you been hanging around, Tori?" Elsa asked, mouth curled in a smile. "This Saturday is the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. It's only, like, the biggest event of the year."

Anna wasn't quite sure that she believed that, but she let it go. "I mean, I knew there was a dance," she fumbled – and technically it was true. "I just- I didn't realise it was this weekend."

"Well, welcome to the Eighties," Ariel said with a little snort.

Anna barely heard her. The dance was  _this weekend_. Kristoff had only a few more days to pluck up the courage to ask Elsa –  _Anna_  only had a few more days of meddling. Sure, she knew she was leaving soon – there was no getting around a one-off lightning strike – but she'd hoped for her parents to have more time together first. No wonder John was fading so fast; she was woefully behind schedule.

At least now she saw her plan of attack. If only she could figure out the details, all hope might not be lost.

~ o ~

That night, after a very casual "Sorry I have some chores to do" that excused her from joining them at the diner, Anna raced back to the house and enlisted Doc's help in rigging up a costume and filming something on her phone – eating through her precious battery power, which she had realised was going to run out a long time before she made it back to 2015 and could find a micro USB cable. For some reason, Doc didn't have a charger in the DeLorean. She'd be sure to yell at him about that… if she actually found him alive and well when she saw his future version again.

Then she snuck into Kristoff's house, grateful for the first time in forever that he insisted on pointing it out to his kids every time they were in the neighbourhood. It was easy to locate his room, and she gently placed a hastily-folded cardboard contraption over his sleeping head, essentially suspending the phone right in front of his eyes. One spilled glass of water later, he was awake and upright. All he could see was darkness… and the image of Doc in a strange costume.

"Greetings, Earthling! This is Hoban Washburne, from planet Naboo! You have a very special mission!"

Luckily, he did make it to the end of the mission – and the accompanying threat – before he passed out. Satisfied, Anna slipped the makeshift device off and crept back out his window and away into the night.

Now she was leaning on the brick wall outside Lou's, watching her dad jog up to her, all out of breath and frazzled. Lou's was a little more crowded now than it would have been twenty-four hours ago; students were crammed into the corner with the arcade machines, purely because the actual arcade was in the mall, which was a lot further away from the square. Plus, it was probably even busier than Lou's by that point.

The moment he noticed her, Kristoff made a beeline for her instead of the door. "Tori!" he hissed as soon as he got close. His eyes shifted left and right, and he got really close. Anna almost commented on his complete disregard for personal space, but decided against it. He looked pretty wigged out, and also… was that soap she could smell?

"Sup, dude?"

Blowing right past her greeting, he hissed, "Listen, you- we're friends, right?" Anna nodded. "Okay, so that means if I say something crazy, you won't laugh at me?" His big brown eyes were pleading, and he looked so confused. She hoped she didn't mess him up for life…

Once more, she nodded. "'Course I won't." Despite the assurance, it still took him a few moments to gather himself. He kept glancing around, and wasn't completely happy until he'd taken her arm and guided her further away from the general hub-bub of the café.

"Last night, I was sleeping, right? And then this cold feeling woke me up, a-and I couldn't see anything at all. Like there was a box on my head? And it sounds crazy, but in the box there was a  _tiny screen_. Like, just the right size to fill my whole vision! And there was a dude on the screen who told me I had to invite Elsa to the dance!"

Anna had to bite back a smile; not because she wanted to laugh at him, but because she had been afraid that her plan wouldn't work, or that Kristoff would simply see through the ruse. She knew, of course, that technology of the future was different, but seeing how he reacted to it was interesting.

"Oh wow, that- that sounds pretty rad. Like there's someone watching over you. Like a guardian angel!"

But Kristoff was shaking his head, not looking nearly as happy as she felt he should be. "Tori, I- Why would he do that? How did he know? Sure, I really like her. And maybe we're friends now – at least she doesn't hate me. But if I ask her to this dance and she says no, I'll lose even that."

"Hey, no, you can't think that way. Don't be a nice guy."

"What? I  _shouldn't_  be nice?"

Crap – 'Nice Guy' didn't mean the same thing in 1985 that she meant it to. "I mean, DO be a nice guy, but… like…" Sighing, she forced herself to start over. "This is just one dance. And she's your friend! Start there. Don't buy into all that hype that if she turns you down, you're in the 'friendzone', that's not a real thing."

"I've never even heard of that thing," he mumbled, though he seemed to be too distracted by everything else she had said. "So you're saying… it doesn't matter if she says she doesn't want to go with me… it just means that we're still friends? And maybe she would wanna be more later, but don't push it?"

"Exactly. Maybe she will, maybe she won't. But like, being 'just friends' with a girl who likes to talk about science fiction is better than not talking to her at all, right? Girls are people, too."

That last phrase seemed to do it. He had already been listening intently, but that made sense to him. "You're right. We're all just carbon-based life forms."

"Well… maybe don't say that part to her," Anna muttered. "Not very romantic."

"Okay, okay. But what  _should_  I say, then? I… I have no idea how to approach a subject like this, I've never tried before!"

Anna knew what she would say. She's probably say something stupid like, "date me," and she knew that Elsa would maybe say yes because there was definitely interest from her already. But this wasn't about her. Scrunching up her nose, she contemplated for a moment.

"Just… keep it casual. Go up and just tell her how you feel. If you're not comfortable with the whole 'admit your undying love', then don't. But you care about her. And you wanna go to the dance with her. Don't you?"

Kristoff gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Of course I do. She's beautiful, and friendly, and smart, and I feel like I can actually talk to her. I know what everyone around school says about her, and I hate it because I know what they say about me, and it hurts."

"O-oh?"

"Yeah. Geez, why do all the good people get it the worst?"

Anna almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Kristoff had never given any inclination that he knew much about the politics of the playground – aside from sneakily eavesdropping in the boy's locker room. "You don't… care? About what they say about her?"

Finally, his smile turned outward. It was no longer deprecating; no, now it was full of something else. "I mean… calling people names is cruel, especially ones like that. But if she was, so what? Like you said, we're all carbon-based li- I mean, people."

Anna didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it wasn't that. Suddenly she didn't feel so ashamed of having him as a father. "Kristoff," Anna said, turning her face up at him. "Go get her. Just be  _this_  you and I think you're gonna be okay."

Shaking out his limbs, and then slicking his hair back fresh again, he headed inside. Anna snuck in behind him, trying to be unobtrusive as possible as she sat at the bar and nodded for a "Pepsi Free," which seemed to be some weird 80s version of a Diet Pepsi that she'd never heard of in her entire life. She pulled a beanie hat out of her pocket and put it on so nobody would notice her red hair right away.

"Elsa?" Kristoff said as he made it to her table. It was just barely close enough that Anna could hear. "Heyyy… girl…"

Already, she wanted to facepalm. Elsa glanced at her friends, and then back at him. "Uh, hello, Kristoff. How's it hanging?"

"Um, pretty good, pretty good." He was nodding to himself. Anna could have groaned. "Listen… I wanted to… well, y'know…" He was choking. But Ariel coughing seemed to help him get restarted all on his own. "Just wanted to let you know that the past couple of days, hanging out? They've been great. Like, I don't know, I always had this feeling we could be friends if I got past my, um… dorkiness."

"Hey, it's okay," Elsa said in that soothing, motherly tone that made Anna want to sob huge tears of regret. If only she would use that in her own time period! "You know, like… shit happens. Right?"

Scratching the back of his head with a little self-conscious chuckle, he was the picture of an awkward teenage boy. Anna couldn't help smiling to herself. It was okay. Everything was okay. Her mother and father were teens and it was all going to be fine. "Right! Right, yeah, exactly. So anyway, I was wondering if maybe you-"

"HEY, MCFLY!"

Immediately, all the courage Kristoff had worked up dissipated. Anna turned her head, eyes squeezing shut. Of-fucking-course. The whole café went quiet, all eyes turning to the jerk in the jean jacket.

"I thought I told you to never come in here, McFly." Glancing over her shoulder, Anna followed Hans as he moved through the small shop, stepping menacingly towards Kristoff. The space seemed packed, and yet there was more than enough room for people to get out of Hans' way. "I guess you owe us. How much money you got-"

Hans never even got to finish his question. Just as he passed behind Anna's chair, she stuck her heel out. He never stood a chance.

However, given his size and stupidity, Anna hadn't expected him to recover so quickly, either. She'd hopped off her chair, hoping to make a quick escape, when he shot to his feet. She had stood in front of him before but- had he grown taller in the last day-or-so? That wasn't fair! Damn her parents and their short genes!

One of his big meathooks curled into a fist, and Anna decided she didn't want to find out whether or not Hans was okay hitting a woman. So she did the first thing she could think of. In hindsight, it was probably the silliest idea she had during this whole fucking adventure.

Pointing over his shoulder, she cried, "Ahh! What's that?" When he twisted his head to look, almost as if someone else were doing it, suddenly she was socking him straight in the jaw. He went down like an incredibly dense sack of potatoes.

Then she ran for the door. A couple of his goons made a move to catch her, but all she had to do was scream "AAAAHHH!" and they all backed up as if burned. Sometimes being a girl had fringe benefits.

Of course, she had barely made it outside when she heard them coming after her. Hans probably didn't care about hitting girls when no one was watching; he was just that kind of shitbag. So she kept running, toward the courthouse square and angling for a group of students who were all listening to thumping bass from the boombox that was hoisted onto one of their shoulders. It wasn't the music they were carrying that she was particularly interested in, though.

"Hey!" she panted. "Can… can I borrow one of your skateboards?"

"Girl, do you even know who we are?" one of them asked.

"You're the fucking King of Rock – I heard it from the radio just now, okay? But that asshole is gonna…" She couldn't even finish, just turned to glance at where Hans was looking around wildly for her. "Please?!"

"Well…" One of them had barely raised their skateboard before Anna was ripping it out of his hands. "HEY!"

"I'll bring it back!"

Then she was off like a shot. Maybe she wasn't good at very many other things, but this was her domain. It was certainly not Hans', and he knew it. They all clambered into his muscle car and began to give chase, probably breaking about fifty traffic laws in the process. But not only was Anna good at skateboarding, she also knew this town. Sure it had changed a little in the thirty-odd years, but she still knew which side streets went where, including which ones Hans would absolutely not be able to fit down in his souped-up overcompensation.

Unfortunately, so did he. He probably had lots of experience terrorising the neighborhood, which meant that every time Anna thought she'd given him the slip, he just ended up cutting her off again.

Goddammit. She could only hope that Kristoff had recovered his wits while she was keeping Hans occupied and gone on to ask Elsa out; that would at least make all this worthwhile.

Finally, she seemed to have lost him. It was a good ten minutes after she'd first burst through the café doors, and her sides were beginning to hurt from the exertion. Rolling towards the square, she checked behind her. No Hans. Bringing a hand up to wipe at her sweaty bangs, she let out a breath.

Of course, that was the moment that Hans' car burst from another street, almost sideswiping her.

Snatching the back bumper of a passing Jeep, she managed to be pulled down the street at speed, preventing Hans from running her over – probably only because he didn't want to get in trouble with the owner of the other vehicle. But he kept close behind, glaring, waiting for his opportunity. Alas for the bully, Anna saw her own before he did. At the end of the upcoming side street, she saw something that made her grin. All she had to do was keep going forward when the jeep inevitably turned…

So she did. She took off like a rocket, letting go at just the right moment so that she lost very little momentum as the car vanished from their lives, Hans gunning it to run her down.

And then she jumped backward, off the skateboard. If he'd been going any faster than 30mph, she probably would have been flattened, but she was scrawny and scrappy, and her reflexes were still pretty good. She managed to land ass-first on the hood of his convertible sports car, rolling over to grin and wave.

"You stupid SKANK!" he growled, teeth bared at her and looking more menacing than she'd ever seen. "I'll  _murder_ you for this!"

"C'mon, Hans!" she cried out, grinning. "You won't have time to murder me! You'll be too busy cleaning this car!"

She waited until he was blinking stupidly up at her before leaping to safety. She was just in time to roll through several bags of trash, coming to a stop fairly close to the skateboard she had borrowed. It wasn't a graceful, cute landing, and she would have the smell of old banana peels on her clothes for hours… but it was nothing compared to the fate that awaited her opponent.

 _Manure._ Thick, rich, grass-fed cow patties, all piled into the back of a truck that unfortunately had an open back gate. Hans and his cronies collided with the open vehicle, launching tender nuggets all over their faces and heads and down into the seats and floorboards. Not to mention the crumpled hood of the car, smoke already beginning to rise from it.

Chuckling to herself, Anna picked herself up out of the trash. Looking around for the group of kids so she could return the skateboard, she became aware of the crowd that had gathered. They were all either looking at her, murmuring to each other, or all-out laughing at Hans' expense.

It didn't matter. Carrying the board, she managed to locate the kid she had mostly-stolen it from. "Hey, thanks man," she said. He took it, a dumbstruck look on his face.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked. Anna shrugged.

"7 Eleven," she said, as truthfully as she could. That parking lot was one of many places she had honed her boarding skills.

As she headed back toward Elsa and Kristoff, she couldn't help but take another look at Hans, spitting manure out of his mouth and gagging. It was a memory she was going to savour. When he was being an a-hole to her dad and saying lewd shit about her mom, she'd remember this.

"Oh my GOD, Tori, you're so… fucking… RAD!" Elsa managed to whisper when she arrived, hands over her mouth. She noticed Kristoff looking a little like a third wheel, hanging around, but she didn't have much time to feel bad about it because blonde hair was suddenly filling her vision as arms came to wrap around her, Elsa hopping up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Hey, hey!" she laughed, hesitantly patting her on the back. But she had to get out of there. If she kept hanging around, she knew that Kristoff would never get a chance to finish his proposal that they attend the dance together. "No biggie. I just didn't want him to beat me up. Um… a-anyway, I gotta go, see ya!"

She knew it was a less-than-elegant exit, but maybe this could be one of those "make yourself less appealing" moments Doc had told her about. Soon enough, she was running through the streets, wishing she still had the skateboard.

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER WARNING: Sensuality, over-the-clothes stuff.
> 
> Hello, everyone! We would like to take a moment to point out that until Elsa decides to label herself, please refrain from presuming her sexuality. There have been one or two (not many) comments hinting that she has to be fully hetero- or homosexual. Eventually, that will become more clear, but please do not label her because (mostly) it will give you erroneous expectations for the story itself. Thanks and enjoy!

By the time she got back to Doc's, the sun was just beginning to set. She let herself in and poked around the living room and kitchen, not really expecting to bump into Doc at all. Where else would he be but in his garage-slash-workshop?

However, finding him in the living room revealed something that made her heart sink.

"Oh my God." A tinny voice floated out of the TV as she edged her way in there. It was a frighteningly familiar phrase – one she'd already lived through. "They found me. I don't know how they possibly could have, but they found me."

"…Doc?" she asked softly, coming into view.

He started as though he'd been electrocuted. "Anna! My dear girl! I was simply… analysing the videographic components of your recording device. The clarity of the image leaves little to be desired…"

He was lying. But she didn't feel like calling him out on it. Maybe it was even for the best. If Doc knew what was going to happen, then maybe he could take steps to prevent it. So she kept her mouth shut, instead heading over to the couch and flopping down. She really needed a shower.

"How did it go?" Doc asked, abandoning the phone to stand in front of her. "Are they going together?"

Sighing, Anna rubbed a hand over her face. "I don't know. Kris was halfway through asking when we were… interrupted. Hopefully while I distracted Hans, he coughed up the courage."

"Anna, he has to-"

"You think I don't know, Doc?" she interrupted, suddenly angry with him. "What, you think I've been prancing about, hoping it'll all magically work? I finally got Elsa to actually look at him. When your own mother would rather hang out with chicks,  _and_  you happen to be one she's attracted to, things become a little more difficult!"

Doc didn't say anything. Anna felt a little bad at going off on him, so she swung her legs from the lounge and stood up. "I'm going to have a shower…"

"Listen," he sighed before she could quite leave the room. "Future Girl… I appreciate the difficulty of your circumstances. And I must admit, having you around these past few days has been… well, unusual, but in a way it's as if…"

"As if?" she prompted when he didn't finish. But he only waved the unspoken sentiment away. What was he going to say?

"Nevermind. You work on fixing them up, and I'll work on the time machine."

"Yeah," she sighed, all of her anger having evaporated. Now she just felt tired.

"Oh, and by the way, I believe I've fixed the starter, at least. Still working out the kinks with the plan to harness the power of the storm, but… all is progressing on schedule."

Nodding a few times, she gave him the best smile she could. It was still pretty pathetic, but it was all she could muster. "Thanks, Doc. Always doing your best with what you got, huh? I guess I kinda learned that from you."

Then she left, before the moment got more awkward. She had a feeling Doc was going to say she was like the daughter he never had, given that he had said those exact words to her before – in the future. Unfortunately, in that moment, she didn't much feel like a good daughter to anyone.

~ o ~

The scent of shampoo and conditioner was still strong in Anna's hair when there came a knock at the door. "DOC! DOOR!" she called, pulling on the button-up shirt that passed for something to wear. She didn't even have more than one bra, since there wouldn't be much point in buying more than one if she was only living there for a week, so she left that off. It was beginning to get pretty grimy.

Doc didn't answer. And the knock came again. Rolling her eyes, she struggled back into her jeans and padded through the hallway, then clomped down the stairs. Was it coming from the garage? "Alright, alright, here I come!"

Wrenching the door open, she couldn't help the squeak when it wasn't an angry Mr Tannen, a sad Kristoff, or a concerned neighbor.

"HI!" she squawked. And Elsa Baines gave a shy smile.

"Hi, yourself. You look comfortable."

Oh god. She was a post-shower mess! At least she was clean, but that wasn't the same as presentable. Meanwhile, Elsa's hair was a little less outrageous than at school today, but that didn't mean the rest of her style had followed. There was much too much stomach on display – Elsa had forgone the high-waisted jeans this time. Instead, a short denim skirt sat on her hips below a crop-top shirt.

"Can I come in?" she asked, peering around Anna. "Oh, this must be your uncle!"

Anna turned around, eyes widening as Doc finally sauntered in from where he had been. Upon realising that there was someone at the door, he rushed over, grabbing a heavy tarp to cover the DeLorean.

"Um, sure. Sorry," Anna said, stepping aside to let Elsa through.

Elsa gave Doc a polite smile. "Yo," she said. "I'm Elsa." She held out her hand.

"Um… pleased to make your acquaintance," Doc managed to mutter, accepting the hand and only briefly shaking it before releasing her, then nodding to Anna. "Um… I take it you're here to visit, I'll just…"

"Let's talk in here," Anna took over, indicating the living room – and more importantly,  _away from the DeLorean._ The relieved look on Doc's face was only shown once Elsa's back was turned, but she had to suppress a small chuckle to see it.

Once sequestered away from the potentially-dangerous nonsense of Doc's workshop, Anna looked around briefly, then turned back. "Um… I'd say 'make yourself at home' but I barely feel at home here, so… I guess, do you wanna sit?"

"Sure." Anna motioned to the chair, then sat on the couch. Of course, Elsa sat next to her instead. Why would she do anything else?

"Oh! Um… h-hello."

"Hi," her mother purred with a big smile. Then she bit her lip for a moment, as if trying to summon her courage. It looked all too familiar; that was exactly what Kristoff had been doing every time he tried to talk to Elsa. "I, uh…"

"Yeah? Come on, time is money." She was joking, but Elsa flinched. "N-not really! I mean, I don't have a job, obviously." That was really awkward. Anna frowned at herself. Stupid.

"Right. So, um… yeah, so you looked really awesome on that skateboard today. I, uh… I didn't know you board. How long have you been doing it?"

"Oh, yknow… a while…" Anna didn't really want to talk to Elsa about it; not when she – well, her older counterpart – was mostly the reason Anna had taken up exercising in the first place. Anywhere with fresh air and an excuse to not be home. It had started just by walking, but then she realised that despite her general lack of coordination, skateboarding was actually something she was pretty good at.

Her ability to brush off a fall or a graze notwithstanding.

Elsa obviously didn't know how to continue that train of thought; not when she had so successfully been shut down. Anna cleared her throat, self-conscious. She  _had_  to know. "So, I noticed Kristoff talking to you before Hans interrupted. Anything important?"

But Elsa didn't have an answer. "He was being a little… odd," she said. "And then yeah, there was Hans and we were a little distracted. After you left, he said he had to go babysit or something."

"Ah." Damn. He almost had it, too. Stupid Hans and his stupid face. But then Elsa was speaking again and Anna's attention was taken up just by watching her.

"Yeah… Oh! I, uh, I made you something."

"You what?" But Elsa was already pushing a small plastic box into her hands. "Uhh… okay, now I'm even more confused."

"It's a mix tape. You know, all the kids are making them; I, uh… we don't have enough compact discs for me to make it all sound professional, so most of it's off the radio. But I hope you like it, an- anyway."

While Elsa was nervously biting her lip, Anna glanced down at the cassette. She recognised most of the names listed on the little paper insert in her teenage mother's loopy handwriting: Cyndi Lauper, Bowie, Madonna, Tears For Fears, Pretenders, Flock Of Seagulls, Joan Jett… and of course,'Til Tuesday. There were a few names she didn't know – who the hell was Level 42?! – but honestly, not that many. Eighties music was her jam, after all.

"Wow… yeah, thank you." But realising that sounded insincere, she looked up into Elsa's hopeful eyes. "Seriously, this is bomb. I-I mean, it's rad. Really, um, bitchin'."

"Bitchin'," she breathed back with a definite blush. Great; they were already in trouble again. "Oh, Al finally asked Jazz to the dance!"

The corners of Anna's mouth lifted into a smile, but she couldn't inject much feeling into it. Not while she was still trying to figure out what the tape meant, and how to manoeuvre her parents together. "That's great, Els," she said, hoping the words would cover for her lacklustre expression. Elsa didn't even notice because she was suddenly staring at her lap.

"I- no one's asked me. Or Ariel, so we're going to go as a group. Y'know, stag? I… I would really love it if you came with us…"

"Oh, I don't want to be a third- fourth… fifth wheel? Or stag?" They both laughed a little. But she could tell Elsa wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. "Um… we can make that our plan, unless somebody does end up asking you. Never know."

"I mean… I know who I wish would ask me." The admission was pretty raw, even without identifying the person, so Elsa sat up a little straighter, clearing her throat. "B-but um, yes. Also, we want to get this party together for the night before."

"What? A party?"

"Yeah!" She nodded emphatically, her previous embarrassment forgotten. "See, Ariel has to do this family thing the morning after the dance and she can't get out of it, plus people have church, blah blah." Anna smiled; she knew that one of those church people was Elsa, if she remembered her maternal grandparents with any clarity – and Elsa herself in her future. "So we wanna party like it's 1999 the night before. Problem is, we can't find anywhere good besides Jazz's mom's place, and it's tiny, so… s-so we're probably just going to end up back at Lou's."

At that, Anna began to scheme, bumping the corner of her mixtape against her lips. If she could get her parents talking at this party, in a very casual, very "fun" environment, it could more naturally lead to him asking her to the dance.

"Well… what if I know a place that's completely empty? Though I don't know if you could get enough stuff together to get a party going…"

At that, Elsa's eyes flew open. "What, really? Oh my God, gag me with a spoon! Tori saves the day like Gizmo!" And then she laughed and pulled Anna in for a hug, and Anna chuckled because she honestly had no idea what Elsa had said but it seemed like a good thing.

However, then she had a new problem. Elsa was squeezing her just a little too tight, face buried in the crook of her shoulder and neck. She was almost nuzzling, hands passing up and down her back a little too freely. Not that it was much of a surprise after their last extended hug, but Anna still found herself a little surprised.

"I-it's no big deal," she finally managed to say in a soft voice, embracing her back.

It had the opposite effect than Anna was hoping for, though. As much as she loved hugging Elsa – and it was getting easier to admit that to herself – she had hoped that it would encourage Elsa to still her hands.

No such luck. In fact, it actually made it worse because it brought Elsa closer to her. Elsa let out a little sigh, relaxing further against Anna's front. It made three things very, very obvious, that in hindsight Anna should have expected.

First, that she still wasn't wearing a bra.

Secondly, apparently Elsa wasn't wearing a bra, either.

And third… nipple piercings made every tender motion  _shoot through the sensitive buds_  so much more strongly. Maybe it wouldn't have been all that bad, except Elsa's were definitely perkier than could be explained away by the relatively mild Autumn. So they were both in a similar predicament.

"Ooh," Anna couldn't help breathing. Guilt slammed into her immediately afterward; that was  _not_  okay. This was her mother! Her mother as an awkward, barely-gay teenager!

But Elsa didn't back away. In fact, she shifted again, and Anna felt herself freeze when heat filled her stomach at the same moment the shame did. She knew that it shouldn't feel this amazing, but it did. It was pure eros.

Obviously Elsa thought the same. Anna was distinctly aware of Elsa's hands as they moved again. This time, though, they weren't moving up and down her back. Elsa's head remained bowed even as her hands came close to Anna's front. They hovered just below her armpits, trembling with a need Anna wasn't even sure Elsa knew how to deal with.

It was all wrong! This was the moment she had been hoping to have with Punz. With  _anyone_ , as starved for affection as she had felt for so long. Even Merida's joking commentary about "throwing her one" had begun to sound actually appealing, despite it being a joke.

And it was happening with Elsa Baines, the woman who would grow up to give birth to her one day. But she wasn't yet. She wasn't Elsa  _McFly_. They were almost completely different creatures; this Elsa was shy, and young, and edging into the queer side of life. Sweet and inviting. Her mother was old, bitter; hollowed out by a life she didn't want. And most importantly, her mother would scarcely even touch her at all.

This Elsa… wanted to do more than just touch her. Those two hands shifted so that her thumbs began to inch their way between two different sets of breasts, the soft pads facing in Anna's direction when they came into contact with stiffening peaks through the soft fabric of her shirt.

"You- is that… a piercing?" Elsa asked, voice soft. Reverential. "W-wow. That's totally gnarly. And… hot."

Try as she might to suppress it, she couldn't quite hold back the moan, both at the words and the touch. That one sound seemed to encourage Elsa like nothing else. Anna had barely a moment to prepare before Elsa was pressing in again, thumbs carefully circling the pebbling flesh and the shifting barbells.

"Elsa…" she practically panted, closing her eyes for a moment. "Maybe… maybe we should stop…?"

She did want to, truly. This wasn't right. Her mind told her that Punz was waiting for her. Her heart was telling her that! But it was also telling her that Elsa was  _here_. Elsa wanted her, and she wanted Elsa in return, morality be damned. Eyes squeezed shut, a murky issue of emotions swirling about her face as she lifted her hands.

"Maybe we should," Elsa breathed softly against her neck, her ear, causing her next moan to come out in a quavering tone, for her hands to fall uselessly back down. "But I don't think either of us want to…"

Heat pulsed in the center of Anna's lap. So little effort was required. Just push her buttons and Anna fell apart like a paper boat, the mixtape bouncing off her lap and onto Doc's carpets. She didn't want to simply let Elsa turn her on, but how could she put up any defenses when she seemed to be so effortlessly good at it?

 _Think about Mom,_  she demanded of herself as hot breath caressed her neck, lips grazing over gooseflesh.  _Your mom, back in your time. Her crabbiness killing your mood every day_ _…_ _this is her. This is the same woman you're letting fondle you!_

But it wasn't working. It only seemed to have the power to stop her from doing anything back for now, not to get her to push Elsa away. How could she when she craved any kind of attention from her? Plus, she knew that she couldn't stop herself for much longer. Not when she wanted any kind of physical contact with Elsa as bad as she did.

Not when she wanted to do things to that perky chest that were nowhere near familial.

Still… maybe she  _could_  get Elsa to stop. Already hating herself, she let out the only sound that could diffuse the situation.

" _Mom_ _…_ "

Elsa froze. "T-Tori?" Her eyes were wide, face flushed. Her arousal was still incredibly obvious, which only made Anna feel worse. But it had the desired effect. Elsa jerked her hands away, looking down.

"S-sorry," Anna said softly. It had worked. Her plan had been to stop this before they got too far ahead. She didn't want to think about why she felt so disappointed.

"What did you say before?" Elsa asked, beside herself. Full of heat with nowhere for it to go. Now, all Anna had to do was glance down and she could see the outlines of her peaks, and desire filled her… but she made herself look up and away.

"N-nothing. I'm…" She had to be careful. That was something Anna was really bad at, but she had to try. "So that, um, that happened."

Swallowing hard, Elsa turned to face away from her, eyes wide and staring. Sure, she was still turned on beyond belief, but she also seemed to realise there was something off about their interaction now.

"I'm so sorry. When I get that close to you… I can't seem to stop myself."

"It's okay," Anna lied, petting along Elsa's back. When wide eyes turned toward her, she jerked the hand away, but then returned it. "Really. I… well, clearly I'm having a little trouble over here, too."

Elsa snorted. "Geez, I'll say." Then she sobered up. "I never- this is so new for me. And I haven't forgotten that you have like… a girl waiting for you. I don't wanna lose your friendship but I don't know if I can pretend that I don't  _like-_ like you. That I don't want to… to share this kind of thing with you… and way more."

That bald confession made Anna want to cry. "Elsa..." It was so heartfelt – nevermind it did things to the rest of her central nervous system. She felt herself tearing up, and Elsa rushed to comfort her.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry! You don't want a pathetic… me… learning about girls on you. It's not fair. You're just so…  _amazing_ , Tori…"

"I'm sorry for being so weird about this. Whatever it is we have. Because I kinda really like it, and I definitely don't hate you, or think you're pathetic! Seriously! Just… I dunno, we need to chill."

It was only partially true. By now, Anna knew that she genuinely did want more from Elsa than simple friendship, or parenting. But those were base desires talking. Her higher brain functions knew that she needed to get Kristoff into the picture and set those two crazy kids on their way to happily ever after. Hopefully, a little happier than she remembered them, but at the absolute least to a procreation state of mind. So she and her siblings wouldn't disappear.

However, Elsa didn't know that. She'd made it quite clear that she thought Anna was simply humouring her; as painful as that idea was, it would be far worse it Elsa found out the truth. Clearing her throat slightly, Anna stood up to walk her to the door.

But Elsa had perked up at Anna's small admission. "You… like it?" she asked softly. Throat suddenly dry, Anna nodded. Damn, she hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"I'm really excited for the party," she said instead, taking the lead and directing Elsa out the front. Still, her voice was higher and more nervous than she would have liked. "Is it okay if I get the address to you tomorrow? Kinda, um, exhausted right now. Running away from Hans and everything."

"Oh, of course!" Elsa responded. At least she didn't seem upset about what had transpired – in fact, she seemed almost  _happy_. Anna didn't want to think on why that might have been, so she tried her best to push it from her mind.

Elsa turned back to her at the front door. That burning desire was still so there, boldly written in her eyes – the way they glanced all over Anna, drinking her in. Anna felt naked under such an intense gaze. But still, her words obviously had an effect on Elsa, though. Instead of a hug, Elsa simply put her hand on Anna's shoulder, squeezing gently. The fact that Elsa was actively reining in her emotions – her desire – was a small comfort. It showed that Elsa respected her wishes.

"Great! Then I'll… see you tomorrow! To plan, a-and whatever!"

"Yes, there'll be music, fun, dancing through the night…" Biting her lip for a moment longer, Elsa seemed to make a conscious effort to allow herself to do something moderately scandalous. She leaned forward and pecked Anna on the lips. It was nothing, the kind of thing she remembered her doing when she was a little girl, but more bold than Elsa was used to being. Even if clearly less bold than her thumbs had been moments before.

"O-oh, well… yeah!" Anna whispered with a huge grin, knowing her freckled cheeks were glowing. "We're gonna get turnt- I mean, party like it's 1999!"

Grinning back at the reference – one they could  _both_  get for once – Elsa gave her shoulder one last squeeze. "Looking forward to it!" Then she was skipping down Doc's steps and heading for her parents' Gremlin.

It took a few minutes for Anna to collect herself. To let the blush and the smile fade, for a more sober outlook to set in as she wandered back toward the garage. She basically had a date. A date with her own  _mother_. And she would have to go through with it, because…

Because if she broke her mother's heart, she would be too upset to go out with her father. Which was the only thing she absolutely could  _not_  do. Her life depended on it.

~ o ~

"Perhaps you should call this off," Doc said once she had explained the situation, and the crease of concern between his bushy eyebrows was very real. "The head can be easily persuaded, but the heart… if it's set on you, then she won't have room for anyone else. Your proximity is more of a detriment than a benefit."

"But I can't turn back now," she sighed, sinking down into an empty stool and staring down at the concrete. "If I blow her off, she  _might_  turn to Kristoff for comfort… like, sure, it's possible. But what if she just closes herself off completely? Shuts down because… because I hurt her? Then I won't even be able to keep telling her to give him a chance. So… so I'm stuck."

Doc sighed, walking over to her to rest a hand on her shoulder. "I trust you to do the right thing, Anna," he began, "but… I don't know if you trust  _yourself_  anymore. That is partially what I'm worried about. And this unprecedented magnetism between you two girls. Honestly, this would make a fascinating case study if not for the grave ramifications should we not succeed in our mission."

Anna didn't have a good response for all that, so she just said, "Thanks for your help, Doc. Don't worry, I'll… I think I'm just gonna turn in early. But maybe tomorrow I can figure all this shit out."

He didn't try to stop her.

_To Be Continued…_


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: A lot more sensuality, up to and including masturbation! NSFW.

Of course, Anna realised quite quickly that sleep wasn't forthcoming when she tried to drop off for the fourth time and instead of the gentle lull of sleep, she instead felt the burning hands of a phantom Elsa. It seemed no matter what she did, she was going to be restless and awake.

Not really feeling up to facing Doc, but still unwilling to lie around aimlessly in the cot she called a bed, she got up and stole through the house. Doc was too distracted to notice, fiddling with some small device that resembled a pair of scissors. For whatever reason, he'd hooked a potato up to it. She decided to leave him to his projects, and he didn't notice when she went out the front door.

At first, she'd only intended on walking the block. But by the time she came back around, she wasn't any more tired; in fact, she felt more awake than ever. So she just kept on walking. Time didn't seem to have any kind of meaning as she wandered the streets, hands shoved into her pockets as she avoided the glare of headlights. She could tell when it got late because the traffic eased up, and soon it was only the occasional vehicle that interrupted her reverie.

Why did Elsa have to be so damn attractive? That was what was really throwing her off, moreso than the actual near-misses and the constant flirting from her young mother. If she didn't feel the same draw, it would have been much simpler for her to shut her down, to resist those advances. But that, combined with the knowledge that she would be tearing down a baby gay's confidence, was enough to make it almost impossible for her to swim against such a relentless current.

Anna didn't realise how far she'd walked until she realised where she was, and why it seemed so familiar.

"Of course," she sighed, looking up at the McFly house of the past. Longing filled her to just climb inside and fall asleep, to be near  _something_  resembling home, but she knew that wouldn't work out quite as well as she wanted it to.

Then she noticed something curious: a light was still on. In her mother's room. Suddenly she wanted to see her. No –  _needed_  to see her, desperately. Maybe they could maybe figure out where they stood. Maybe she could work through all those weird, unnatural impulses – even start treating her like a friend-slash-mother again.

So she picked up a handful of little pebbles and tossed them at Elsa's window. It took a little while, and Anna was almost afraid that Elsa hadn't heard her. She didn't want to be any louder – didn't want to wake the rest of the family up – and so she couldn't help the sigh of relief when a silhouette finally appeared.

She just stared for a moment before finally opening her window. "Tori?!" she hissed. "What are you doing here?"

Okay, this idea had seemed smarter before Elsa appeared. Anna couldn't quite process everything – not with Elsa's hair tousled from where she'd probably been lying down, not with the way she was looking at Anna, surprise and excitement sparking in her eyes.

"Can- can I come up?" she ended up asking back. She saw Elsa bite her lip and look back towards the hallway. Still seeming undecided, she finally lifted a hand and beckoned Anna forward.

"Be quiet though! I'll let you in the front."

So Anna jogged around to the front of her grandparents' house. Once on the welcome mat, she slipped out of her sneakers so she would be prepared to make less noise creeping through the house.

The door eased open… and she found herself a little surprised.

"Elsa?" she half-breathed, half-mouthed. "You okay?"

Elsa just nodded, motioning for her to come inside. Her cheeks were blotchy and red, and her hair even messier upon close inspection. Plus she was breathing too hard for a teenage girl who had done nothing more than jog downstairs. Still, Anna had been given marching orders, so she slipped in and let Elsa shut the door. They both crept up the stairs as soundlessly as possible, bare feet followed by stocking feet, a shaky hand on the bannister.

Once they were safely sequestered in Elsa's room, the door shut and locked, Anna was able to really take stock of the other girl. Elsa's hair was a hot mess, crumpled and ruffled and framing her red face. There was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, and Anna had the most absurd thought that Elsa had been working out to one of those cheesy 80s exercise tapes; developing 'buns of steel'. Except she was definitely in her pyjamas – cute boyshorts and a singlet with a picture on it. Anna could only make out half of it because Elsa had crossed her arms over her chest and looked really… defensive.

"Hey," she said softly, stepping forward. Elsa watched her. "Hey, you okay?

"Fine! I'm- I'm fine. What… what are you doing here?"

Okay, Elsa was definitely  _not_  fine. Now that the redness was fading, she was actually beginning to look a little pale. And if Anna hadn't know better, she might have thought that the emotion flickering across her face was guilt. But what did she have to be guilty about?

A sneaking suspicion began to flicker at the back of her mind. She knew what  _she_  would have been doing to make herself look that way. But her mother definitely never did that…

Did she?

"Elsa," she began hesitantly, "did you, um… happen to be taking care of  _something personal_  when I got here?"

Her blue eyes blinked and snapped up. "What?! I mean, um, I don't know what you're talking about."

Bingo. Anna cracked a smile and nudged her with her elbow. "Hey, it's totally chill- I mean,  _gnarly_  with me. People have needs. Blow off steam all you want."

"Huh? Oh, I…" Looking almost legitimately frightened, Elsa crossed to stare out the window again, whispering, "I… you've got me all wrong, this isn't- I wasn't d-doing…"

But her resolve was already weakening. She couldn't even look at Anna, let alone make any kind of eye contact. Arms crossed and trembling, she could have blamed it on the cold air; it  _was_  getting late in the year, and the house had cooled down a lot since the sun dipped below the horizon.

Anna stepped forward again, lifting a hand to tap Elsa's elbow. She received a quick look over her shoulder, but that was it before Elsa had moved back to her bed. It was unkempt, too; the pillow wasn't at the head of the bed, but near the exact center, oriented the wrong way. Elsa darted to fix it, but wasn't quick enough before Anna had noticed.

"Hey Els…" she said softly. If Elsa  _were_  doing something personal, there was no reason for her to feel bad about it. But maybe  _she_  thought there was a reason. Anna didn't have many memories of her grandparents, but they definitely had never seemed the sort to condone… self-exploration.

"I still don't know what you're doing here," she breathed shakily. "But… maybe you shouldn't have come. I'm just in a weird mood."

Swallowing hard, Anna fidgeted with her fingers since Elsa didn't seem to want to be approached just yet. The impulse to tell her mother it was okay, that nobody should be allowed to shame her for something perfectly natural, was so strong that it overrode her good sense – and the little voice trying to tell her that there were some topics a mother and daughter just shouldn't discuss. Time travel or no time travel.

"I do it, too!"

Elsa blinked, stepping back from the bed with wide eyes. "Wh-what? I mean… what is it you mean, Tori?"

Anna stepped forward, needing to do something with her body to nominally distract from the conversation. Elsa took a step backward at the same moment, knees hitting the side of the bed and causing her to fall back and sit with a soft  _thmp_.

"Elsa, I- I know what you were doing. And it's okay. Everyone does it."

Eyes wide, and a little wild, Elsa shook her head. "It's  _not_  okay," she hissed, before remembering that she was supposed to be feigning ignorance. "An- anyway, I wasn't doing anything."

This was going nowhere. Anna had found herself here due to luck, or coincidence, or some divine intervention. She'd gotten Elsa's attention because the light was on and she wanted some creature comfort, only to have interrupted what was obviously some very guilt-ridden "me time" for a young Elsa Baines.

Frustration welled up inside her, but it wasn't directed at Elsa. Frustration at herself. And given what had transpired that afternoon, the frustration was definitely stemming from two places. She'd gone for a walk to clear her mind and reign in her libido, and it had achieved the exact opposite.

"Come on, you were, too. And… it's alright, Elsa." When she could see her about to protest again, Anna climbed onto the bed to press her index finger against her young mother's lips. It felt strange, silencing her. And touching her there.

Elsa's lips were  _so soft._

"You know how, um, how our bodies change when we grow up? Well, we want to do things like this now. Explore. And that's normal! Like, it's way healthier to do it to yourself than go out and bang the first person you meet, right?"

Face pale except for the pink blotches in the cheeks, she hissed, "TORI! Y-you can't mean…" But for the first time, she looked desperate instead of closed off. "You've done it, too? You're not just… m-making fun of me, or…"

"Why would I make fun of you?" Her hand came to rest on Elsa's shoulder – but it felt strange resting it there during this conversation, so she drew it back. "Els, I mean it, I'm… it feels great. I do it all the time. Well, not  _all_  the time – I have some self control!"

The statement had the desired effect: Elsa gave out a little half-smile, still too unsure of herself to manage a laugh yet. It encouraged Anna to move just a little closer, to smile more openly – encouragingly.

"You-" Elsa began, before biting her lip. She seemed to want to ask a question, but wasn't quite able to voice it. Given the subject matter, it really wasn't all that surprising.

"You can talk to me," Anna urged when Elsa didn't try and speak again. Against her better judgement, but these  _were_  extenuating circumstances. So she just repeated herself, trying to be as reassuring as possible to her timid teenaged mother. "You can trust me… I promise."

Swallowing, Elsa nodded. She still seemed unable to maintain eye contact, instead staring at her bedspread. "Does… does it always feel so…" she started, then struggled to find the final word. There were hundreds it could have been, but eventually she settled on, "…Intense?"

Unable to help giggling a little, she whispered, "Yeah. Yeah, it does. But eventually it'll get easier to take. It's like…" What terribly inadequate metaphor could she choose? "Like leaning to swim. The water doesn't get any less wet, you just get used to moving in it."

"Swimming… yeah. That's a pretty good comparison right now."

"Is it?" Then Anna got what she meant and her own cheeks started to get a lot warmer. She didn't want to know that! "OH. That bad, huh?" Elsa gave a little nod. "Well, um… maybe I should get outta here and let you do the thing."

But just as she began to push up from the bed, a hand clamped down on her forearm, the voice of the girl it belonged to full of pure terror. "Wait! Don't go, I can't- I tried, a-and I don't think I can do this alone!"

"Sure you can. I know you can!" But the fingers tightened. "You really can't? But… it's kind of a one-woman show, Els. Really can't do it for you. But um… I guess… if you  _really_  would feel less nervous… I could hang for a minute?"

Elsa nodded, obviously – at least to Anna – not having realised exactly what she was asking. She even scooted to the side to allow Anna the room to move up next to her.

Like every other kid in the 80s, Elsa's bed was a single and  _very squishy_. Elsa trembled when their shoulders touched, and neither of them could look at the other. Anna was staring at her lap, trying to will her reddening cheeks to fade. Next to her, Elsa seemed very intently trying to calm her breathing.

Neither were particularly successful.

"How…" Elsa finally began, soft, when it seemed like neither were going to move. "How do you s-start?"

"Ugh…" When she saw Elsa flinch and look even guiltier, Anna was quick to reassure her, "No, no, you're fine. I'm just… not really sure how to describe it. Haven't had to tell somebody about it before. Just put your hand down there and go to town."

"Really? I mean… I keep thinking I should light candles… am I a real nerd?"

Anna grinned. "Nah. It's kinda cute. Okay, here." She slithered a hand down the front of her own jeans, keeping her fingers off to one side so she wasn't actually touching herself. "It's really easy. Just… have to get started. But I'll be right here to help."

Nodding with a look of grim determination in her eyes, Elsa copied the movement, hand disappearing up to the wrist in her pajama bottoms. The tiny gasp and shiver made Anna's face grow a little hotter, but she tried to focus on being as helpful as possible so she wouldn't lose her mind due to dissecting what she was actually doing – and who she was doing it with.

"Like this?"

"Y-yeah," Anna said, voice barely louder than a whisper. "It helps if you think of something while you do it. What- what were you thinking of earlier?"

 _"Nng!"_ The strangled sound that erupted from Elsa's throat wasn't borne entirely of arousal. It sounded like she'd choked on it, and Anna watched as her eyes briefly shut. Could she help somehow? It wasn't like she could just tell her to dream about Angelina Jolie or Ellen Page; the latter wasn't even born yet.

But they had another problem: Elsa's pointed non-glances in Anna's direction. Finally, she whispered, "Tell me… what are you thinking of…?"

If someone had asked her why her mother asked said such a thing, Anna wouldn't have been able to answer. She pulled her hand from her jeans, realising that it had been edging closer the longer she watched Elsa.

That wasn't good.

Finally, Anna couldn't stand the weird, half frightened and half turned on look on her mother's face. So she patted the other arm, the one that wasn't down in her pajamas.

"Hey, n-nevermind. You probably go for somebody like, um… Cyndi Lauper? Michael Jackson? Wait – Aimee Mann? Probably her. Anyway, just, um, just picture whoever it is in your mind. Let that fill your thoughts instead of what your hand is doing."

"Okay…" And she did for a minute. But then she whimpered and burst out, "GOD, why can't I just do this? I tried to ignore it, but it's like I need to so bad that I can't think about anything else! Yet when I try to just face my fears and do it, that doesn't work, either! It's way the opposite of rad and I feel like I'm going crazy!"

"Hey, it's okay! This isn't exactly something you can force." But Elsa's stricken expression said something else. She almost seemed desperate to succeed, for a reason unfathomable to Anna. Still, it was important, so she sucked in her courage and continued. "I usually spend a little while just fantasising," she began, willing to share but unwilling to give too many details. "I'll imagine different scenarios, let myself get all steamy before I start. It's like… personal foreplay."

Elsa nodded, eyes wide. "I don't- it  _feels_  ready. Uh, down… down there…"

 _Same here,_  she thought, but never would say that aloud. "Right. Really wet, huh?" When those wide eyes clamped shut, she persisted, "That fine! It means you're ready. Move your fingers up and down a little. Don't forget to breathe."

Elsa started in, and her breaths were shaky but at least she was doing it. Anna watched her toes curl against the sheets, trying not to look at her face – nope. Definitely didn't need to see her mother's O-face. But either way…

The longer she lay there next to her, watching her hesitantly get herself off for the first time, the harder it was for Anna to ignore her own urges. Even trying to pretend they had nothing to do with Elsa didn't matter; she was still literally laying next to a beautiful woman jilling off. How was that supposed to  _not_  be hot?!

"T… Tori?" she finally gasped out, slitting one eye open. "Are you sure… this isn't weird?"

 _Which part?_  Anna thought to herself. Out loud, she cleared her throat. "N-nah! Why would it be?"

"Be-because you're there, and… and I'm here, doing- and thinking about… um…" She cut herself off, squeezing her eyes shut again. Anna's mind was churning, the lap of Elsa's pyjamas still moving. Swallowing, she opened her mouth.

"Elsa… what  _are_  you thinking about right now?"

But Elsa didn't answer. She shook her head, breaths becoming more laboured. When Anna repeated the question, her resolve seemed to break a little.

"You…you told me to think about what I had been before!" she cried out, arousal splashed with irritation in her tone. A sinking feeling started in Anna's gut, the same moment she realised just how warm her body felt, how sensitive everything was.

"Elsa… is it-"

Before she could finish, the other girl whispered, "What are  _you_  thinking of? Because y-you look almost as ready to go as I am!"

"H-hey!" But there was really no denying it. Only now did Anna realise she hadn't put her bra back on, and Elsa's room wasn't cold enough to justify how hard her nipples were. Or it was… but not right next to Elsa.

"Sorry," she said quickly, turning away as her hand stilled. "That wasn't… I don't know what I'm talking about."

"No… you do."

"What?"

Anna shrugged as her thighs squirmed. "In my defense, I haven't, um… done this before. Been next to someone doing it. So is it that bad that I feel like…" Instead of finishing her question, she ran her hand over the crotch of her jeans. Not pushing in enough to feel – just gesturing.

Elsa bit her lip, unabashedly staring. Her eyes followed the curves of Anna's body, coming to rest on her chest. "I still can't believe you have piercings," she said, voice almost reverential. Anna let out an embarrassed laugh. "If…" she continued. "If you wanted to… y'know… well, you can."

Anna swallowed. "I don't think-"

"If you feel anything the way I feel right now," Elsa said, closing her eyes briefly, "Then I know you want to. I may be new to a lot of this, but even I can see you're… t-turned on…" She looked at Anna's chest again, biting her lip. "Unless I'm wrong. But you said I'm not, so…"

Anna couldn't deny that she  _wanted_  to. So bad. She could feel herself clenching at the thought – it didn't matter that it was her future mother next to her. In that moment, they were simply two teenage girls exploring one facet of their sexuality together. This wasn't even anything Anna had expected to do with Punz.

"So… what are you thinking of?" Elsa repeated herself. Her hand started up again, though it was moving slower than before.

"Well…" Her hand moved up to her waistband, and she felt like she was moving in slow motion but she couldn't stop what was happening. Like something terrible in a dream, except in this case, it wasn't terrible… just intimidating.

"Well… it's… you. But not in the way you think!" she quickly added. "Just, um, just being next to you… doing this… it's kind of…"

"Kind of what?" she panted, going even faster. Anna's hand was going further, brushing through her fiery thatch of hair…

"Kiiiind of hot?"

Immediately, Elsa let out a soft moan, and Anna was done for. Even if Elsa clamped her lips shut a moment later to make sure she didn't get any louder. it was too late for her to unhear that moan.

Or to unthink,  _God I'd love to hear that again._

Anna couldn't help the little sound that came from her own mouth, eyes slipping shut for a second. Her other hand moved up to press at her chest, moments before realising that she was going a little  _too_  far. This was more than either of them had signed up for.

"You're so hot," Elsa murmured. Anna's eyes opened only to find Elsa already staring, eyes lidded.

"I am?" The words were choked out, and Elsa bit her lip. She didn't even need to answer – Anna already knew. She could never forget the sentiment as long as she lived.

"Ever since I first saw you, I thought you were the raddest chick of all time," Elsa admitted baldly. "Radder than Nina Blackwood. I can't believe you're hanging around a dweeb like me."

The hand fell from her chest to catch Elsa's forearm, which felt even weirder now that she was just beginning to wade into her own wetness.  _Next to her mother._  It was sick doing this, which only seemed to add to how erotic it was. How fucked up could you get?! But Anna told herself it wasn't as bad as it could have been since they weren't doing it to each other. Just sharing an intimate teaching moment.

"You are way radder than you think you are," she panted, rolling her hips into the fingers the tiniest bit. Trying not to make the movements obvious. "Don't… don't neg yourself like that."

Elsa's eyes darted down to the fingers on her arm. "Neg?"

Clearing her throat, she let go before that got too weird. "S-sorry. Put yourself down. I think you're really cool. A-and pretty! And…"

"Ohhhh, Tori… mmhhh…" Licking her lips, she tossed her head from side to side. "S-so… this does feel really good… When I pet up and down feels better than from side to side, I think? I guess?"

Anna nodded. "That's- yeah, that's normal. It's just about finding what you like and doing that, y'know?"

"I can- there's something…!"

Oh God. It sounded like Elsa was close. The stimulation that afternoon in the living room had whet Anna's appetite, and now she wanted more. She could only assume her mother felt the same.

Despite her initial scolding, Anna couldn't tear her eyes from Elsa's face. She wanted to see her – wanted to  _hear_  her – and was very quickly losing the ability to control herself. With her eyes squeezed shit, fingers working furiously beneath her pyjamas, Elsa was the most beautiful girl in the world.

 _Sorry, Mom,_  she couldn't help admonishing herself as her own fingers begin to work a little faster. Even if only in her thoughts, she needed to apologize for what she was about to do – the depraved act she couldn't seem to stop herself from carrying out.

"AH! Tori!" Elsa's other hand fumbled along the sheets until it found Anna's and clamped onto it hard. She thought about jerking it away, but honestly couldn't do that to her in this moment of need. Not when she was so close…

Not close.  _There._  Anna felt a fresh wave of guilt roll through her entire body as she realized that she was literally holding her own mother's hand when she experienced her first orgasm.

Guilt which, of course, was only made worse by the way Elsa was looking at her when the first shudder rocked through her. Within seconds, her eyes were squeezed shut, but it had given Anna enough time to witness the desire there, the raw infatuation.

She told herself it was the fact that there was another person next to her that she fell into her own finish. That there was a warm body and girls were hot and masturbating was fun. It  _wasn't_  the combination of Elsa's look, her touch and her voice, that rocketed Anna into her orgasm a few seconds later.

It  _wasn't_.

Her own world narrowed to her fingers at her core, and the hand wrapped around her own. Hips rolling, breath labored, she didn't want the moment to end; she didn't want to face whatever came next. But the guilt and the shame wasn't as potent as she'd expected. Wasn't as potent as she'd  _wanted_.

And in the aftermath they just sat there, each too embarrassed, too unsure, to do anything else. Elsa didn't release Anna's hand.

"Well…" It was perhaps the stupidest thing to say, but it was better than complete silence. "Fun, right?"

Elsa's smile was hesitant, fragile, as if made of spun glass. "Yeah. I guess it is."

"Good." She wanted to withdraw her hand – or keep going for a second round – but she was too intimidated by what Elsa was going to think of either action as viable. So she laid there, hand still stuffed down her pants and panting for breath.

It was Elsa who finally whispered, "Is it… normal to want to…"

"Want to what?"

"To… to see your piercings?"

Anna had the distinct impression Elsa was going to ask something else. What could it have been? Did she want to do it again, too? Or  _kiss_  her? Or cry? God, it could have been anything. But now she had this new request to deal with, since she definitely couldn't call her out for covering her real question without any real proof.

But then the meaning of the actual question came through, and Anna wasn't entirely sure how to answer. Swallowing thickly, she removed her damp hand from her pants, curling it to rest on her lap as she kept looking at Elsa.

"You want to- to see…?"

Elsa nodded, but then bit her lip. "If- if you don't want to, that's okay," she clarified softly. "I just…"

There was no way, in Anna's mind, for Elsa to finish phrasing that question without it looking bad. But at the same time, no one had asked. Not even Punz – she was there when Anna got them, true, but they'd never come  _close_  to doing what Anna had done just now with Elsa. They were both too shy, too hesitant.

When she didn't try and answer, Elsa looked away. "Just forget I asked, okay? I'm really sorry for-"

"No! No, it's- it's okay," Anna said. "I was just… surprised that you'd asked. If… if you want to see them, then of course I'll show you!"

When all Elsa did was nod, a shy smile in place, Anna knew she couldn't back down anymore. And didn't see the need to, anyway. They were only breasts. Or they were supposed to be.

When she began to lift her shirt a little at a time, Elsa's eyes widened at the same gradual rate. Then the girls were on display. Anna bit her lip in anticipation of any judgement, or comment, no matter what type it would end up being.

"Ooohhhh…" Elsa definitely looked more than just academically interested. Really, she looked almost as turned on as before, even if her breathing was much steadier – and all that fear and guilt had faded into the background. "Can… can I…?"

Her hand had come up, hovering over the closest peak. Anna couldn't speak – all she could do was give a slight, if shaky, nod. After all, Elsa had already fondled them  _over_  the clothes, anyway.

As soon as a gentle hand – a  _warm_  hand – pressed into her chest, Anna knew her mistake. If she hadn't just come, perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad. As it were, however, Anna's body was still alight, still sensitive. Given that the piercings were still relatively new and her body wasn't yet accustomed to them, it felt like fire when Elsa touched them. Her own shaky breath was mirrored by the girl feeling her up. Even though the pressure was so light as to almost be non-existent, it was still there. Elsa was still gaining  _something_  from their interactions.

"This is so  _bad_ , Tori," Elsa murmured. "My mom would kill me if I ever did this."

Anna let out a half-smirk – anything to distract her. "You say that like my mom kn- like I asked permission," she said. She corrected herself partway through her sentence: she couldn't say that her mother didn't know, because Elsa  _was_  her mother, and she really,  _really_  needed to stop forgetting that.

She had to swallow the guilt and shame that came with that thought. Finally, it came, though. Better late than never.

It didn't seem that Elsa noticed her discomfort. Not if the fact her other hand joined in – the one that had been down her pants – meant anything. Elsa let out a breath, the sound full of trembles and tremors that gave away just how aroused she was. She fiddled with the bars, the sensation setting off sparks within Anna's sensitive nipples.

Coupled with the fact that very slight residue of wetness was being smeared across one of them and it was almost a miracle that Anna didn't come again just from that.

"E-Elsa…" Her hips were already rolling upward to no avail, straining to get more of something that wasn't happening. Her thighs clenched, teeth dug into either side of her bottom lip.  _Elsa's cum was on her boob,_ and it felt  _amazing._

"Does it… feel good?"

 _"Fuck yes."_  Catching how her voice was just a little too earnest and needy, she cleared her throat and tried again. "I mean, um, it does make them more sensitive."

Elsa licked her lips and began to use just a bit more pressure, rolling the studs with her fingers and kneading the meat of each breast. Anna couldn't think anymore. Her hand went right back where it had come from, desperate to work its way into her greedy arousal that didn't seem to realize it had already got what it wanted.

The motions paused for just a moment – just a split second in time – as Elsa stared unabashedly at Anna. She didn't seem to be able to help herself, eyes trained on Anna's lap. With her jeans still on, Anna knew it was impossible for Elsa to see anything more. But that was probably for the best.

"M-more?" Elsa stuttered, fingers picking up again. Her attention was still caught between Anna's breasts and her lap, though the motions were less inquisitive now, more structured. But then something in the way she said it made Anna pause, just for a moment.

Did she…  _want_  Anna to get off? Because the question didn't seem to be entirely directed at Anna. It wasn't a ' _do you want more?_ '; no, this one was different.  _Can I keep going?_  would have been a much more appropriate take on the one-word question.

Anna's head jerked up and down, an emphatic nod. She didn't have the words, too afraid that the next thing to burst from her mouth would be a moan – or even worse, Elsa's name. Not that it mattered when, at Elsa's next question, she couldn't bite down the strangled sound that choked from the back of her throat.

"Can I… my mouth….?"

"Huh?!" Anna was positive that she hadn't heard her correctly – or that she didn't mean what she thought she meant. No  _way_  did Elsa want to try that out of nowhere!

"Th-that's alright, I'm sorry," she hastily replied to Anna's dinner plate eyes. "Such a weird nerd, I don't know what I…" Swallowing hard, she added in a whisper, "Why would you want me to do that, anyway? Why would I want to?"

"No, no, it's okay! I'm… you really want to?" It only added to Anna's heat. She wanted to protest, but there was no easy way to say 'I'm not ready to feel my mother reverse-breastfeed me' without it leading to more awkward questions than she was prepared to answer.

Besides… she didn't want to resist. She  _should_  but didn't.

"Yeah," Elsa whispered, biting her lip as she bent toward one of them. "Just… to try it… if you're sure it's alright?"

Giving a shaky nod, Anna leaned back. This evening was… was to let Elsa explore. To encourage her to maintain her open world-view.

And god, did Elsa want to explore. She hadn't meant to move back so far, but before she could spare a thought to do anything about it, Anna was on her back, Elsa looming above her. The shirt caught roughly around her neck; though it was torture, Anna removed her hand in order to deal with that. Perhaps it would be better in the long run, anyway.

This was about  _Elsa_. Not about her. She was just another body for Elsa to learn about her sexuality on.

The thought was more sour than Anna expected it to be. But it was swiftly replaced with the kind of mind-numbing pleasure that Anna had only ever experienced alone. With her hands safely away from her center, she had difficulty distracting herself from the pleasure pulsing from her breasts as Elsa kissed one softly. Her lips weren't on the nipple yet, instead preferring to tease the soft flesh around them; it made little difference.

Anna let out a shaky sigh, eyes squeezed shut. "Where- how did you know to do this?" she asked, the words more as a way to distract herself than actually expecting an answer. It was plainly obvious that Elsa was a little taken with kissing her chest, and probably didn't want to pause for anything.

"I don't," she finally answered – before taking the soft pink peak into her mouth. The tongue flicking over the nub told Anna differently, and the way it shifted the barbell from side to side, but then again, some people were just naturally gifted when it came to these things. Or so she had heard.

' _I'm so fucking turned on,'_ her brain was screaming as she fought down the urge to either pull Elsa closer, or shove her away. ' _But she's my MOM! Or will be! I mean, right now she's just a really horny chick, but_ _…_ _how did I even get BORN if she's this goddamn good with a woman's body?!'_

Anna couldn't stand it anymore. The hand and mouth teasing the sensitive pink flesh of her peaks were pushing her past her point of endurance – and that was before the tongue started specifically shifting the piercing around, which was  _way_  worse. And by 'worse', she meant 'best' – the best moment of her entire life.

So she snaked her hand down toward her waistband again. This time, no turning back; she was going to come again. Really hard, and really good, and who cared what relation she was to the woman doing this to her? They were two bodies crashing into each other in an explosion of pure pleasure.

But she felt another hand there when she went for it: Elsa's. They both drew back and gaped at each other for a moment. Then Anna cleared her throat and found her voice. Somewhere.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

It seemed that some kind of spell had been broken. The aroused flush that had taken up residence on Elsa's face vanished, to be replaced by a sickly pale tinge. She stared at Anna, jaw working up and down, trying to find her voice.

"O-oh God," she choked, throwing herself back, hands clenching. Anna followed her part-way, sitting up but not covering herself yet. She was more concerned with Elsa, who looked on the verge of tears as she refused to look at Anna.

"Els-"

"I'm sorry!" she cried out. "P-please don't hate me! I shouldn't-"

She really did break down then, curling in on herself as sobs wracked her frame. Anna, for her part, just sat there a moment. She was still  _unbelievably_  turned on, but it was easy to ignore in the face of her friend's agony.

 _Friend._  That's what this Elsa felt like; not a relation, not an obligation. They had become friends for the first time in their lives.

The real question that buzzed around her head was  _why is Elsa crying?_ , because really, all Anna had expressed was mild surprise. At least, that was what she thought it had been. Obviously, Elsa had taken it worse.

"Elsa," she began softly, "I'm- I'm sorry if I scared you…" Elsa shook her head, a harsh, jerky movement. Throwing her shirt back on – biting back a wince as the rough material scraped over her sensitive chest – Anna moved close. "Hey, what- what's going on?"

Elsa shook her head again, hiccuping out another sob. Finally she calmed down enough to answer, but just barely. "W-why do you put up with me?" she said, "You're s-so  _rad_ … and I'm just a  _fucking_  useless…  _dyke_."

The bite in that word shocked Anna. But of course; it only took her a second to remember that it used to be purely a swear word, one of the worst insults you could call a girl. She kept forgetting where she was- no.  _When_  she was.

"You are not," she said, since she knew that would work better than telling her it didn't matter if she was a dyke or not. "You're a person. A really cute, really sweet… bodacious babe." That would work, wouldn't it?

"Then why do I keep doing these crazy things?!" she sobbed into the pillow. "God… you really helped me out just now, taught me h-how to do this, and I started pushing for all this weird stuff, a-and… and now you're going to look at me weird! I ruin everything!"

Anna sighed. It was a huge overreaction, but then again getting off for the first time had definitely left her pretty emotional, herself. So she put her hand in the middle of Elsa's back and began to soothe up and down, pressing in just enough so that the steady touch could be felt as firm.

"I'm sorry. You're… new at this, and I should have maybe stopped you before you got in over your head. But you didn't do  _anything_  wrong, okay? Just… moved faster than you were ready to move. That's all. And that's my fault for not thinking… for just…"

For getting carried away. For loving the sensations so much. For loving that she had her mother's attention for once… even if it was in such a bizarre, taboo way.

She'd hoped that the action would soothe Elsa, but it only seemed to do the opposite. Instead of calming down, she only seemed to cry harder. There was a moment that Anna feared she'd awaken her family, before brushing it to the side. Her grandfather snored, and if they hadn't already awoken, it was doubtful they would.

What it  _did_  do, however, was encourage Elsa to seek comfort from Anna. She rolled over and opened her arms; just a little, but enough to indicate what she wanted but was too afraid to ask for. Maybe she thought she didn't  _deserve_  to ask.

Anna was more than happy to show her she did. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she clung to her, her shoulder dampening as Elsa pressed her face into it. "This- please don't blame yourself. It's my fault. I just wanted to…"

To what? To take advantage of her mother? To try and change some shitty aspect of her life in the future? Was she really doing this for Elsa, or doing it for herself?

But even as the guilt welled up in her, Elsa was already whispering, cautious and grasping at straws, "M-maybe… we  _both_  just wanted to… see what it's like. I'm so full of hormones!"

"Yeah!" Anna burst out in cautious relief. "That's… that's good, it's true, we're horny teenagers. Just didn't mean to aim my horniness at you." She received a nod of agreement in return. "So are we okay? Are you okay? Wow, I'm really sorry, I never meant to-"

"I know, I… I do know. You've been totally awesome, Tori. This whole time, you have been. I'm the one who keeps messing up, who keeps pushing for weird stuff that…  _clearly_  I'm not ready for. Like you said. Is it ever going to get better?"

Though the question hadn't really been about that, Anna clenched her thighs for a moment, trying to let a fresh wave of desire pass. "You know… I don't know. I'm still a dumb kid myself, right? But it'll get easier the more we try, and we'll be better people. Bet on that."

Elsa nodded; whether it was in understanding or agreement was up to her, and she didn't elaborate. She did finally lift her face, still sniffling a little but no longer crying. Anna couldn't help herself; she reached out a hand to cup Elsa's face, wiping away the tear-tracks that still rested there.

' _I'm so going to hell,'_  she thought as she pressed a soft kiss to Elsa's cheek. After all the excitement of the evening, such a tender display was almost too much.

"I should probably get going," Anna hedged, still backing away, still smiling a little. It seemed as though Elsa needed to see a smile as much as she needed to feel it. Elsa nodded, eyes meeting hers before they widened. Anna hadn't even managed to climb off the bed before Elsa reached a hand out.

"Wait-" she began, then drew her bottom lip between her teeth. Another moment of fear; another moment where she wanted to speak but didn't seem to want an answer. They were all too common this evening.

"Hey, it's okay. You can say anything to me. I won't judge."

Elsa nodded, though once more Anna wasn't sure whether it was understanding or agreement. It took a few more seconds for Elsa to sift through whatever she was thinking about and speak up.

"Can you- if, if you don't want to, it's fine, I just… for a little while…" She paused, swallowing thickly. Anna did nothing but look at her, trying to be encouraging and reassuring at once. Elsa sucked in a breath. "I… really don't want you to leave…"

Heart completely melting, she whispered, "Yeah. For a little while." Although as she settled back into the mattress, she knew there was something she was forgetting.

Not until Elsa had curled herself around Anna's side, clinging tightly and nuzzling into her neck for any kind of comfort, did Anna recall what it was. She never forgot that Elsa was her mother. She couldn't; maybe a bit for a brief moment here or there, but not completely. But there was another aspect of this that had slipped her mind.

' _You're supposed to be setting her up with your father,'_ that stubborn inner voice screamed at her. ' _And look at you – practically trying to fuck her brains out yourself. What kind of useless lesbian are you?'_

' _She needs me,'_  she fought with herself as she caressed up and down Elsa's back – trying not to think about how perfect her body shape was, how well it fit against her side.

' _She could get this from Dad. And she's supposed to be doing that right now, not jilling off next to her own daughter. That's sick and wrong, even if it doesn't FEEL as sick and wrong as you expected. Stick to the mission. You gotta do better if you don't want to be erased from existence.'_

Pain gripped the inside of her heart as she lay there, trying not to cry herself. Staring at the ceiling and feeling the inviting form pressed up against her. She knew now that all she had to do was roll over and pin Elsa to the bed, kiss her, keep going… but she never could. It wouldn't be right because she had the advantage of foreknowledge – and for those pesky time-travelling incest reasons, of course.

How was she going to live through this? And once she did, would she be able to live with herself?

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More sensuality. Dry-humping.

Some time around five in the morning, Anna gave up on sleep completely. Sidling over to Elsa's desk, she 'borrowed' a piece of paper and a pencil. She wasn't going to get any more sleep, so she may as well use the time to plan.

Kristoff. Elsa had to fall for  _Kristoff_ , not her. They had to get married and have kids – and maybe when Anna was back in her own time she could try and help fix their relationship then, too. However, she had to figure out how to make all of this happen without screwing everything up as badly as she had been so far or she would never get the chance.

So by the time she made it to Kristoff's that morning, seeing that he was up early and doing the family laundry, she had something a little more concrete to work with. About the only plan she could see that would do the trick. The problem seemed to be that Anna was "cool" and appealing, and Kristoff was just boring in a relative sense. Maybe she couldn't  _exactly_  make herself less attractive to her young mother, nor could she make Elsa purebred-hetero, but she had a possible solution to put her dad back in the running.

"Alright, walk me through this again," he sighed as he tossed in the dryer sheet. "You're going to the dance with her, but she's going to end up with me? That's doesn't make sense."

"It's just a backup plan, Dad. Uh… I mean, rad. I mean, that doesn't make any sense, either." Shaking out her head, she tried to push through and cut to the chase. "You can still ask her during the party, but if it doesn't work, I think you sailing in like Batman will make her notice you."

Nodding, he slammed the door and it started tumbling their clothes. "Fine, fine," he sighed as he turned back to the basket, picking out a few clothes to toss in the washer. "And I do love Adam West. But the part I don't get is, how am I saving her from you? I mean, she's your friend."

 _'Oh,_ _h_ _oney,'_ she thought. He was looking at her with an expression almost as naïve as his words. "Well…" Clearing her throat, she turned away. "Elsa's a sweet girl. Nervous and kinda delicate. So when I get a little rough with her… she'll want someone to save her from that."

"Rough how?"

"Handsy." When Kristoff was still just blinking at her, she went on, "Come on, not even  _you_  can be this dense! I'm gonna take advantage of her!"

"WHAT?! You mean you're gonna touch her on her, her…" As he gesticulated, Anna winced to see that her paternal grandmother's bra was in one of his hands. "But you're both girls! A-and- ohhh, what the hell?!"

"Kristoff, calm down!" Taking the bra from him, she tossed it into the washer and tried to ignore how red his face was getting. Probably a lot like her own. "It's just an act! Besides, if you stick to the schedule, I won't even get any further than pushing her down and looking at her funny, right? Just enough to make her worried, and for you to look like the hero."

He still looked incredibly unsure, but at least he wasn't arguing anymore. Still, she knew what he was thinking because she was thinking it, too.

"Look," she sighed, somewhat morosely. "I'm not going to hurt her for real. I promise. Like you said, she's my friend, and… and I care about her a lot. So chill."

Finally, he smiled. It was a little weak and lopsided, but hey, it was there. The moment was broken when the dryer gave a particularly loud  _thunk_. Kristoff jumped; Anna shrieked. For a moment, the only noise was the sound of the machine, cheerfully chugging along.

Then Kristoff started laughing. Heart still thundering in her chest, Anna could only glare at him for a few moments. His face was redder than before, face screwed up in mirth. Were those tears in his eyes? But then he didn't stop. Every time his laughter slowed, all he had to do was look at Anna and it renewed. Soon she was giggling along with him. Slowly her irritation was replaced with something else: a feeling of camaraderie – foreign, much like most of the positive emotions she'd experienced in relation to her father thus far had been – overcame her.

"C'mon, dude," she said between hiccups of laughter. "It's not  _that_  funny!"

Kristoff disagreed. "You didn't- didn't see your face!" he chuckled.

It took more genuine effort than she expected, but eventually Anna did get her giggles under control. They parted company, confident of their two-fold plan. First, they would try to help Kristoff "schmooze" his way into Elsa's heart at the party itself. Then, if that earned them no progress, she would go through with Plan B. Given that they both seemed to loathe it, Anna could only hope that Kristoff would be successful.

~ o ~

The day of the party, Elsa started passing out her future address to all of her friends and close acquaintances. Not that she knew that's what it was; only that it was an empty space in which to arrange a bash. She was able to talk Al into helping to get together some of the essentials, and he promised he'd grab some of his teammates for the task. Everything was shaping up great.

Meanwhile, Anna had wheedled a little more cash out of Doc for two more outfits: a party outfit, and a prom dress. The fuchsia mini skirt and fishnet leggings made her feel stupid, almost as much as the denim vest over the black long-sleeve button-up, but she knew everybody else would be wearing similar fashion disasters. She just had to grin and bear it.

"You excited?" she hissed to Elsa as they were getting ready to leave the school. She was a little sad; this would be her last 'school day' with her. Weird as everything had been, she would definitely miss seeing this part of her mother's life.

"I wanna hurl, dude," Elsa confessed with a shaky sigh. "This is the first real party I've ever kinda-sorta thrown myself. It has to be bad, or I'll be a bogus bimbo from now until graduation."

"Those are a lot of B-words." Suppressing the worry that this would cause a resurgence of the urges from the night before, Anna linked her arm with Elsa's as they headed to Ariel's shiny Nova. It wasn't a great car overall, but at least it was fairly new, and she had the use of it most days.

"Oh… hey," Elsa breathed, glancing down at their arms and then back up at Anna's face.

"We got this."

"We got what?" she asked. Anna could kick herself for lapsing with the lingo so often. "O-oh, you mean the party? Yeah, I'm sure it'll be tubular. Or… reasonably sure."

"It's gonna be amazing," Anna insisted. "Everybody's gonna have fun tonight. The key is to let them have their  _own_  fun – no micromanaging!"

Elsa merely nodded her head. Honestly, it wasn't something Anna was overly concerned about. There was gonna be some food and soda and apparently Elsa had some 'really neat tunes, totally not square'. She had no idea why her mother was so stressed.

"You're coming, right?"

Oh. That may be why she was worried. Keeping her frown to herself, Anna nodded. "Yeah! Gotta make sure no one messes up your little shindig."

"Shindig?" she snorted, eyes alight. "What is this, the 50s? Who even says that anymore?"

"I do!" Anna defended. Elsa shook her head, a smile still playing at her lips, but she said nothing more.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, each seemingly having no idea how to continue the conversation. It was only when they neared Elsa's friends that she spoke.

"Thank you, Tori," she said honestly. Sincerely. "For all you've done."

"Ahhh, it was nothing." Anna tried to play it cool, but obviously wasn't doing too well. Not when Elsa paused in her steps to face Anna fully. "Hey," she said softly. "What brought this on?"

Elsa shrugged and didn't say anything for a moment. "I just…" she began. "I just get the feeling you're going to be leaving soon, so..."

"What? Oh… well, yeah, probably am." How did she know she was leaving? Still, she had to do better. "Definitely am. Gotta head home, y'know?"

"Right! So I wanted to tell you in case I don't get the chance or- or in case something changes." Change? What could change? Anna's mouth was already open and primed to ask when Elsa interrupted. "So thank you, Victoria."

"Well… I'm… okay." She decided not to fight Elsa on that, since she really wasn't exactly sure what she would be fighting against. In truth, if they hadn't already technically crossed lines, hadn't  _masturbated_   _next to each other_ , she probably would have leaned up to kiss her on the cheek – to reassure her. Instead, she merely squeezed her bicep. "You're welcome. But you honestly don't have to thank me; I just think you're a… rad chick and want to help you out."

"After what happened, I'm not sure I deserve that," she sighed as they got closer to the car.

"What do you mean?" But Elsa didn't answer. They were too close to Ariel now, which Anna understood… but she still had to wonder what Elsa had been going to say. Did she completely blame herself for their straying over the line and into the Danger Zone? That wasn't fair.

"Ready to crank this party to eleven?!" Ariel was asking them, blotting out the rest of Anna's inner musings. Along with her, Elsa and Jasmine immediately cried out in unison "IT GOES TO ELEVEN?!" and Anna could only shake her head and laugh, wondering where this wonderfully ridiculous version of her mother had gone.

~ o ~

A few hours later, they had the model home as tricked out as it could possibly be. Somewhere, they had dug up an actual deejay, and he brought a crate full of the best early-80s new wave and rock hits. Even a little disco, despite how most of them rolled their eyes to see the 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack amongst his selection.

They also grabbed a few folding chairs and added them to the plain, boring couch and armchair that had been in the living room. There was no TV – or rather, the one in there was just a cardboard display to give the impression of an actual TV – but they didn't really need one. They quickly set up a drink and snack station in the dining room, and put out bowls of chips and some dip on the coffee table so there would be more than one place to grab food.

"Looks good so far," Jazz was saying as she looked around at their work. "Wish we had more Pepsi Free, and more Coke Classic than New Coke…"

"Well the New Coke was on sale," Ariel said. "We're not exactly millionaires."

"Well, Al is bringing some supplies, too," Elsa reasoned, "So we're probably gonna be set no matter what." She was currently rearranging the table, making sure they had enough coolers full of ice – and enough room in them – for the various drinks. She was nervous and scared of failing, that much was obvious.

"So, who's coming?" Anna asked. Ariel and Jazz were, bless their souls, entirely unhelpful. Jazz could only name one person – "Al!" – and Ariel gave a shrug.

"Word probably passed around the school," Elsa said. "Have you never thrown a party before?" They all turned to Anna.

"Oh, heh, well, not exactly. Where I'm from parties tend to be a little… different." She'd been invited to them, of course. After the first one she'd never gone again. Parties were loud and obnoxious things. When someone inevitably brought out the alcohol, she added 'scary' to that list. Drunk people were scary. And most seemed not to realise what it did to them, what it turned them into – both in the short term, and in the long term.

Realising that she'd been staring at Elsa as those thoughts swirled in her head, Anna shook her head. "I guess I'm just not a huge party girl," she said.

At first, Elsa and her friends laughed a little. Then when she realised Anna wasn't joking, the blonde leaned in a little closer. "Wait… are you serious? But you're the coolest girl I know!"

"Maybe… sobriety is cooler?" When they only stared, she wilted and mumbled, "Yeah okay, didn't expect that one to work. But for real, I'm just not much of a drinker, sorry."

Of course, that would be the exact moment Al and his posse showed up with the keg and a couple bottles of harder liquor. Anna swallowed her disappointment and helped them set up, getting everything ready and appointing one of the jocks – some giant beefcake who called himself "Herc" – as the one to watch the table and make sure nobody drank themselves stupid. Not that she really trusted him to do that.

Around the time the first few guests began to show up, Elsa took Anna aside and whispered, "Why are you doing all this?"

"Huh?"

"This party. If you're not a partier, then why would you go to all this trouble to help set one up?"

Her thoughts went to Kristoff, who was probably trying to parallel park outside as they spoke. "Oh… just trying to be a good friend, I guess."

"Ah. Well, I want you to know I appreciate-" But that was as far as she got before she was being dragged away by Ariel to help greet and mingle. That was just as well, since it gave Anna an excuse to head for the refreshments and grab herself some caffeine.

She was also hoping to run across Kristoff. She'd told him to be early – "but not too early!" – but so far she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him. Twenty minutes later, by the time the party was getting into full swing, he still hadn't arrived.

A little irritated at his lack of punctuality, she made her way out the front of the house. There were kids strewn everywhere. It wasn't too bad yet – no one was truly drunk, which was nice. And down the street a little, still close enough to be visible in the light, was a familiar face.

"Kristoff!" Anna called, jogging towards him. He gave a start, and lifted a hand in a wave, but he didn't move forward to meet her. So that was the first thing she asked him about. "What the hell? Why aren't you in there yet?"

Looking away, he mumbled some pathetic excuse. Something about not being wanted at the party, an "I'm sure Elsa doesn't want me here." But this was the same old self-esteem issue, so Anna punched him in the shoulder. Not enough to hurt, but enough to make him flinch and look up.

"Dude," she said. "This isn't an invite-only gig. And trust me, you're just as welcome as anyone else." Before long, everyone would be too drunk to care whether a 'nerd' was there or not. Plus… they did say Anna was cool. She could invite whoever she wanted! "And besides, you're already here. May as well make the most of it."

She practically had to drag Kristoff towards the house even when she received a reluctant agreement from him. Anna refused to allow him to back out now, not with all the effort she had put into this.

"Just try and strike up a conversation with her," she encouraged him once they were inside. "She won't bite, you know that."

"Fine, fine! Wow, you're pushy!" But he didn't fight her on it, either; seemed to be how he handled most situations.

Back inside, she left Kristoff to approach Elsa and focused exclusively on pigging out on snacks. The potato chips seemed especially bland to her for some reason, and she couldn't decide if New Coke was an acceptable alternative to the stuff she was used to. Stubbornly, she refused to have a single sip of anything alcoholic; she told herself it was only because she needed to remain focused on getting her parents together. Which was mostly true.

After a good fifteen minutes, she floated back out to the living room to find them. However, neither Kristoff nor Elsa was there. Poking her head around the other rooms, she finally had to drift down the hallway to locate one of them.

Elsa was lying on one of the beds, staring up at the ceiling. Ironically enough, it was in the room that would later become Anna's. Even the awful grey feature wall was the same. When she heard Anna come in, she sat up on her elbows, then sighed. "Oh, it's you."

That didn't sound good. Gently closing the door behind her, Anna took a few steps into the room. "What's going on? What are you doing in here?"

Elsa shrugged. Sitting up fully, she curled her legs up under her chin. Anna took it as an invitation to sit near Elsa's feet. She smiled to herself – the Elsa of her time would have had kittens to see shoes on the bed.

"Just wanted to get away," she finally admitted.

"Not having fun?"

Closing her eyes, Elsa sighed as she turned her head in the direction of the door – it made her sway a little bit. "No, no, it's not that. I just… Kristoff asked me to the dance tomorrow."

"OH?!" Anna perked up at that. Perhaps it was lucky that Elsa wasn't looking at her, though, because immediately after, she deflated. If Kristoff had asked her, why was she hiding out here? She was almost too afraid to ask. Fortunately – or perhaps unfortunately – Elsa wasn't finished.

"He's a great guy, but I…" she trailed off. Sucking in a breath, she turned her gaze to Anna. Her hold on her knees tightened, and Anna couldn't tear her eyes from Elsa's. "I realised that I… really want to go with someone… someone else."

Oh.  _Fuck._

"Y-yeah?" Anna managed to sputter. She wanted to run, but she managed to force herself to stay still.

"Yeah. And… I think I made a mistake." Her head nodded toward a cup on the previously-empty bedside table. "I thought maybe it would make me feel less upset about the whole situation, but instead now I just want to cry."

This was a tough situation. One of her hands drifted over and patted Elsa's forearm; it was about as neutral a location as she could manage. "Sorry. I really thought you two… w-well, it doesn't matter right now." It did, of course, but she couldn't explain without risking a time paradox.

"Oh, I like him more than I expected. I almost said yes, but then I thought- I… Tori, I just want to go with  _you_. Can't I pick you up in my car, a-and we'll go to the dance together? No grody stuff, I p-promise!"

"Elsa…" Whatever she was going to say died on her lips at the look in Elsa's eyes. Vulnerable, weak. She couldn't do that to her, couldn't destroy what little hope and faith Elsa had. Not right now. And they still had Plan B. "Okay. As long as you swear to me-"

"Pinky swear." Elsa actually did hold up her pinky, and Anna snickered as she took it. But her mother remained serious all the while. "I know… know th-that you were pretty wigged about that. Because we're friends, and you already have a… w-well, anyway. Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about." Then she pushed Elsa a little more firmly against the bed. "Now, just relax here for a little while. I'm gonna get you some food to help soak up the drink."

"Will that work?" she asked, vaguely watching – barely helping – Anna take off her shoes and setting them on the floor.

"I've had practice," Anna muttered under her breath. Cleaning up after her again.

But the bitterness Anna had come to associate with cleaning up her mother's messes didn't come. Looking back at the bed, at the girl sitting forlorn atop the covers, she knew why; this Elsa wasn't her mother. Not yet. This Elsa was just a teenage girl who'd done the same thing countless girls before, and countless after, would do: drink at a party.

Leaving Elsa momentarily, she went out into the wild to forage for some food. Despite the lack of flavor, most of the crisps had vanished. There was some dip and crackers left, but Anna wasn't sure that she could trust it. Eventually she found another, unopened container in one of the coolers. It was a little damp from the ice, but the creamy goodness inside was untouched.

While scrounging around for another packet of crackers, she spied Kristoff standing off to one corner. Sighing, she knew she'd have to talk to him before the dance. But that could wait.

Upon returning to the room, the first thing Anna noticed was that Elsa hadn't moved at all. "I brought dip," she said. "There weren't many chips left but this'll soak it all up a little better."

Glumly, Elsa nodded. Her lips pursed into a point. She looked miserable – and Anna had a feeling that it wasn't the depressing effects of the alcohol. "Why do you hate drinking so much?" she asked, probably more as a distraction than anything else. "I never met anyone who hasn't tried it."

Anna lifted her shoulders, resuming her seat next to Elsa and opening the dip. "I have tried it," she admitted, passing her the container and moving on to the crackers. "And I don't hate it, exactly. More like I hate what it does to people. And I don't just mean like… getting wasted and then having a hangover the next day. I mean the… when you drink… or when someone you love drinks… and they don't ever seem to stop. And they just aren't the person you know because they're always the drunk version, and they can get mean sometimes."

Putting the dip on the bedside table, Elsa picked up a cracker and loaded it with a gratuitous amount of dip. "C'mon, I'd never be wack like that, though. It's just a drink here or there."

This time, Anna couldn't look at her, blinking rapidly. The words were out before she could stop them: "You can't promise that."

She was a little surprised to find a hand on her cheek, forcing her to look up. The cracker had been abandoned in the dip, and Elsa was looking at her with the fiercest eyes she'd ever seen.

"Then I pinky promise," she said. If Anna had been teary before, it was nothing compared to the effect that simple sentence had on her.

"Alright, alright. I believe you," she breathed, but more because she wasn't sure how else to handle this situation anymore. Elsa was looking at her with more love in her eyes than she ever remembered seeing from them in the future. Not that she never loved her; she knew her mother did, in ways that she could manage despite her depression and general dissatisfaction with her life.

But that future Elsa would never have leaned in to take her mouth gently the way this one was.

' _Not again!'_  Anna thought furiously. But again, she had as much difficulty fighting off the advances of her amorous friend-who-would-eventually-birth-her as before. She did back up, but Elsa simply followed. Within moments, Anna found herself on her back, Elsa lying atop her.

She needed to stop, but the longer it went on, the more she found she didn't want to fight Elsa off. Some part of her understood that she needed to, that it was important, and that she knew nothing good could come of this if she let it continue. Furthermore, with or without their chromosomal connection, there was no way she could stay with Elsa knowing how she would turn out. That woman from the future was most definitely not her type.

But this one was.  _This_  Elsa was everything she went for in a woman; sensitive, thoughtful, sweet, and kind. Just impulsive enough to know how to have fun, but not some kind of reckless wild child who would hurt her, or get her hurt. And a knockout besides.

"I know," Elsa finally breathed when she broke the kiss, gazing down at Anna's stricken face. "I know what I said… a-and I won't. But… I can't lie to you, Tori. I can't lie to myself."

Anna wasn't thinking.  _Couldn't_  think, not when her mind was full of nothing but the kiss they had just shared. She knew her mistake when she leaned up, none-too-gently, to press their lips together again. Her hands came to wrap around Elsa's head, fisting in her hair and holding her close.

Okay, so perhaps this wasn't the sort of relationship she'd ever wanted with her mother, but… there was love.  _Real l_ _ove_. Anna didn't know how deep it ran through Elsa, but it was there for her. Elsa's lips were soft, and this time, she could appreciate how they felt, kneading into hers. The fact that her hands hadn't moved at all since the beginning, still resting on Anna's cheeks…

Punz wasn't nearly this tactile. Elsa made her feel so wanted. So  _needed_.

But she didn't completely lose herself in the kiss, in the feeling of Elsa atop her, moving gently against her. There was a tiny voice at the back of her head that was asking one little question that she couldn't ignore much longer:  _What happens now?_

"Tori," Elsa breathed briefly when their lips parted, before they moved to Anna's neck, nibbling gently at her skin. She was unpractised in many facets of relationships, but here she excelled. Anna had to close her eyes and suck in a breath, just to keep some of her wits about her.

"Elsa, I… I d-don't know…"  _What didn't she know?_  "I don't know if… if I can… do much more than… than this…" That was a much more moderate reaction compared to what she meant to say, but at least it was a toehold.

"We both feel it," she insisted, ghosting her lips over Anna's again. Her eyes were bright, and Anna couldn't maintain contact. "Don't we? And… I'm sorry about that girl, back in wherever, but… can you honestly tell me it's this good with her? This bodacious?"

"I haven't had the chance to f-find out," she replied with a shaky sigh. Maybe she could distract Elsa. "I, um… we were supposed to have our big night, but I ended up coming here instead. It… I was really looking forward to it, we've been kind of awkward potatoes until now."

"Potatoes?" she snickered, reaching up to brush Anna's hair from her forehead. It seemed she had backed off from kissing her again – for the time being, at least. "That way with words you have is pretty weird. But I dig it."

They just looked at each other for a moment. Both were trying to catch their breath; it wasn't the activities, nor any kind of exertion that caused it. When Anna could finally speak, it was to as a question. "Did you… mean it?" Her voice was soft. "What you said earlier?"

Elsa's head tilted, just a little. "What did I say earlier?"

"You-" Anna had to stop to swallow. This shouldn't have been this difficult! She'd already snogged her, and they had come pretty close to doing way more than that once before; asking a question, in comparison, should be a cakewalk! The problem was, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer. Wasn't sure if she could handle such raw truths from Elsa.

No. She  _had_  to know.

"When you… you said you wanted to go w-with… me. To the dance," she added, unnecessarily. Elsa's head jerked back a little, eyes widening a fraction.

"Of course!" she cried out, obviously not having the same issues as Anna. "I mean, what kind of a skank do you think I am? I don't kiss random people for no good reason, Tori. I, um… I kinda have to  _like_  them first, and… you're the first person I've liked this much. Don't you see that?"

Then she did it again, almost as if to prove it to both of them. Anna tried to summon up some of the disgust she knew she should be feeling, but it didn't seem to be in proper working order at that moment. Even trying to think about having come out of Elsa's vagina, something she thought for sure would kill the mood for her, just seemed to make her think about that part of her future mother's body in general… which she decided was only making things worse, so she gave up.

At least, she tried to give up. Elsa wasn't making it easy, what with the kissing and moaning and- was she grinding? Anna's hands left Elsa's hair, sliding down her sides to rest at her hips. It only encouraged more movement. The fervour with which Elsa claimed her mouth only seemed to grow, and Anna could only partially blame the alcohol.

Only partially, because here she was responding to that advance without having touched a drop.

"Have I told you," Elsa panted, breaking away for a moment to look Anna in the eyes, "just how hot you look in fishnets?"

"Huh? Really?!" Her mind blanked. Elsa was still staring at her, hair framing her face as she panted. It was blatantly obvious that she was as affected by their actions as Anna felt. Fingertips slid through her bangs, combing them gently. "Wait, whoa, be careful… this is getting close to… to a repeat of…"

"I'm just being honest." Elsa shrugged, though there was a dangerous glint in her dark eyes. "I'm jealous; on me, I'd just look like a cheap hooker. But you pull it off. 'Red hot' instead of 'red light'."

Elsa was moving closer again. The temporary distraction had seemingly worn off, and now she was gunning for the girl she had no idea was related to her. "Red light?"

"You know… like in 'Roxanne'."

"Oh- yeah. Community. Alternate timelines and shit."

"Uhhh, sure, whatever that means." Once again Elsa pulled that odd little expression – the one of amused confusion. And then it had vanished because she leaned down once more to fuse their lips together. She broke away for a second to murmur, "Definitely red hot," before returning.

Anna didn't have the will to stop her. It was becoming all to easy to forget that this was her future mother, lying atop her –  _grinding into her_. It was too easy to forget, to pretend that she was just another girl who was sweet and warm and wanted her.

It was an odd feeling, this one of desire and need, that Anna didn't know how to deal with. So she didn't; she just kissed Elsa back with equal passion, needy hips rolling against hers. Putting the worries out of her mind for a moment. She was grateful for her denim jacket and skirt, because they hid the worst of her arousal; protected her from it.

Elsa let out a moan, right into Anna's mouth that sent sparks shooting through her. She didn't know if she was happy or not when Elsa's mouth moved, sliding down her throat. Her hips never stopped moving; in fact, they seemed to speed up.

"Elsa…?"

"Nng… Tori…"

It was blatantly obvious what has happening. Anna had heard that same noise only the night prior, though then they'd had some distance to distract them. Some mild formality of teacher-and-student that didn't exist here. Some part of Anna wanted to draw it out, but it was quickly snuffed out by her more logical side. She shouldn't  _want_  to draw it out – she should be able to stop it completely! But it was becoming more and more difficult to remind herself of who this Elsa would become, and rather just think of who she still was.

And at the moment, that was a horny teenager riding her to oblivion in the spare room of a house party. She could sense when Elsa was getting close; it was in the way she panted against Anna's neck, hands scrambling for purchase before their lips realigned. Elsa moaned as their tongues slid together, hands gripping so tight she could almost make Anna bleed.

And then her mother came, tipping over the edge of rationality and into her mind-numbing finish.

Her body shuddered for a long while afterward as they lay there. It was Elsa who had broken the kiss moments afterward, pressing her head into Anna's shoulder for some kind of stability, some kind of support. Her breath was hot and damp in the small space, and Anna could feel her eyelids fluttering, gently scratching at her skin.

Poor Anna could only lie there beneath Elsa, staring up at the ceiling. There was only one thought going through her head:  _this should not have happened._  But then, that same thought had been spiralling since the beginning of the week. Since she'd stupidly interfered with her parents' first meeting.

This really was some fucked up karma.

Elsa squirmed atop her, shifting her body so she was no longer lying completely over Anna; instead, she sat up. Anna could still do little but look at her, eyes wide. Elsa was so beautifully  _trashed_ , hair frazzled, complexion a dappled red. Now, her eyes weren't nearly so dark as they stared down at Anna.

Already, the guilt was setting in. Elsa looked like she wanted to run, but was too afraid to move. The space between them was a rubber band, stretched and ready to snap. There was no heat left; only blinding shame.

Space. She needed space,  _now_.

Sitting up, she couldn't voice the gratefulness she felt when Elsa slid back, off her and onto the bed. Anna felt like she had to say something, but wasn't sure what she could say. She couldn't even determine what Elsa was thinking; there was nothing but stony silence and averted gazes. When they did speak, it was Elsa who gave the first choking cough..

"I'm… I'm s-sorry," she said, voice low. "Wasn't… wasn't thinking."

Anna doubted that. She most certainly was thinking – just not from her head. "It's okay," she said. It sounded hollow, even to her own ears. "You're pretty wasted. I know… look, I really don't hold it against you, I… I couldn't. It's okay. But maybe we should, um, should go and rejoin the party. Everyone's probably wondering where the host is."

Elsa seemed unsure, but she also seemed to realise that distance was something Anna needed. So, climbing from the bed, she nodded. "Yeah… probably."

Though Anna wanted to apologise, what could she say? She really didn't think this was a smart plan. And she wanted to kiss Elsa again just to show her that everything was fine, and that she didn't hate her, or think she was a bad person for being a little buzzed and letting her emotions run away with her. Maybe that was a bad idea, but she had to do something.

"I'm really looking forward to the dance, though," she wound up whispering as she stood next to her. They were about even in height now that Elsa was shoeless. "And… I won't pretend I could ever forget this moment. Just so you know."

Of course, she mostly meant it was traumatising and she'd spend years in therapy to figure out how she could ever have let this get so far. But luckily, Elsa took her words at face value. Her smile was soft, and she leaned forward to give Anna a little peck on her cheek.

"Me, too. It's gonna be rad to the max."

As they left, Anna added, "And you keep saying I look hot, but you look even better; that minidress is killer."

"Killer?" Elsa mused with a little chuckle, barely glancing down at her purple outfit. The one that showed evidence of arousal standing at firm attention on her breasts – though thank heavens, it showed nothing else. This time, Anna couldn't help staring for a half-second before she tore her eyes away. "Hmm… I like the sound of that. It's 'killer'." Then she reached down to take up Anna's hand. "Ready when you are."

Anna was more than ready. But as they exited the room and made the way down the hallway, she wondered whether Elsa really was prepared. The closer they got to the living areas, the more tense she seemed to be. She walked slower than usual, and her hand tightened around Anna's.

The moment they moved into the light, Elsa dropped it. She covered the movement quite well, heading towards where Ariel was standing. The redhead was watching Jazz and Al hit it off, and Elsa made a show of gushing about it as soon as she arrived. Anna had been expecting it, and while she knew it shouldn't, it still hurt a little; the fact that Elsa didn't feel comfortable enough to keep holding her hand. But that was how it had to be – for both their sakes.

Shaking away the lingering disappointment, she glanced around. Kristoff was standing where he had been the first time she had come out of the room. He looked like he was still holding the same cup, and if Anna had to guess, he probably had the same drink. She sighed to herself before making her way over to him.

"Hey, man," she said. "What's up?"

He didn't say anything for a moment. The first indication he gave that he was going to speak was simply a nod in Elsa's direction.

"So… I guess the rumours are true?"

Anna froze. Her heart stuttered along for a moment before it too seemed to still in her chest. "Wh-hah, what do you mean?"

He looked away, then pointed to the corner of his lip. A quick look at Elsa confirmed Anna's fear: she was wearing lipstick. A light red shade that was obvious even through the dimmed lights of the house.

A light red shade that was, obviously, evident on Anna's own face. And probably not just her lips, either…

She rubbed at her neck, and the spot Elsa had pressed her face into and kissed within an inch of its life. She had to be careful. The panic rising in her, threatening to send her running for the bathroom, would only get Kristoff to abandon all efforts to get Elsa to date him. There had to be something she could say that would undo the damage done by something as innocuous as beauty products.

"Y-yeah," she laughed. It sounded forced, but at least she got her throat to cooperate. "Apparently, she was a little tipsy, and VERY friendly. But um, I don't think the rumours are something you should worry about."

His nod didn't seem to convey that he agreed with her. "Mmm. I mean, maybe not, but she was definitely a lot closer to you than I've ever seen her with any of the guys at school. But I mean… I am a little surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Tori." His cheeks pinkened a little. "If I wasn't so wrapped up with her, I'd think you had a crush on me."

"WHAT?!" That came out a lot harsher than she meant, so she cleared her throat. "I mean, um… how did you get there from… from anywhere?!"

"Spending all this time trying to help me? Cleaning up my act, trying to make me a winner instead of a wimp? It's like… you really care about me. I've never felt that from any girl before. Elsa, a little, but that's it."

This was too far. Anna needed a breather, and she needed it right away. "As a  _friend_ ," she managed to tell him firmly as she backed away toward the kitchen, and the door that would lead to the garage. "Just a friend! Okay? But y-yeah, I'm in your corner, compadre."

Only once she was away from the party did she hear how stupid that sounded. Compadre? More like just 'padre'. Somehow, she had managed to walk into 1985 and charm not one, but  _both_  of her parents into thinking she was their ideal mate. At least with Kristoff it seemed to be purely because Elsa was unavailable and no other woman caught his eye; at least his future wife remained his first choice…

But what about Elsa? Her needs were much stronger, focused on her future daughter and no one else. Flattered and strangely intrigued as Anna was by the prospect, she had to refocus on the task at hand: getting them to hook up so she could safely return to her own time period and take twelve showers.

* * *

 _To Be Continued_ _…_


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your reviews! We're winding up with the final few chapters of Part 1 now, and we hope you enjoy them!

The next day dawned bright and ridiculously early. They had managed to get most people to start leaving by about 2am, and fortunately for Anna, she had no curfew to speak of. One of the few freeing things about this whole insane journey.

Elsa had managed to convince her parents that she was staying at Doc's for the night to make sure they had enough time to get ready for the dance (Anna was sure that her grandfather had tuned out long before that point, but he'd definitely let out a grumble when Elsa had said that). Somehow, Anna had enlisted Doc in the ruse, even to the point of ringing the Baines' to reassure them. Anna wasn't sure what they thought might happen over there, but his words seemed to help.

The aftermath of the party wasn't even that bad, either. Al's crew took the leftover grog home – much to Anna's relief – and most of the kids had been polite enough to actually use the bins, most of the time. Elsa had stolen her family's Dustbuster to clean up the crumbs. Compared to the nightmarish idea of college parties perpetuated by the movies, this was wonderful.

Glancing over at her friend, she caught Elsa already looking her way, a small smile on her face. It vanished, a blush replacing it when she realised Anna was looking back. Neither spoke about the confessions the previous night. It was as though the daylight had chased away their nerves, sapping whatever courage they had. They did speak, but it only seemed to get more and more awkward the more they tried, so eventually they gave it up as a bad job and worked in relative silence.

Anna was dreading that night. Even though she knew she wasn't the kind of person to take advantage of someone, there was the undeniable end result of Plan B – which was now their  _only_  plan. If they went through with it, Elsa would have to feel attacked, even if only for an instant. It wasn't spectacularly comforting, and felt like undoing all her hard work to make her accepting of her own sexuality, but what choice did they have? If she didn't do it… she would disappear.

And possibly destroy the world via paradox. No pressure, though.

"So… I'll pick you up around eight?" Elsa asked once they had finished cleaning the model home. If Anna were honest with herself, it probably looked even cleaner than before the party. But then it clicked that Elsa had asked her a question, so she paused in her cleaning to do a few mental calculations. She needed enough time to put her plan into action, and then for Kristoff to 'just so happen' to see struggling in the Gremlin.

"Hmm…" One of the bags was chucked into the back of Al's 4x4, the only half-decent means of getting everything to the dump. "Make it 8:15. I'm gonna try a thing with my hair."

"But it's agony to wait," Elsa teased very softly, and Anna couldn't help grinning. Even if she was trying her best not to find her mother "cute" during moments like that, sometimes it just wasn't possible.

"Well, you'll have to wait if you want perfection. If you're going to the dance with me, I want to look my best, right? Not all… 'grody'."

Elsa giggled; maybe she had used that slang term wrong, or maybe it was just that she found the thought of Anna looking anything less than beautiful to be a ridiculous thought. She had no way of knowing, because after that, Ariel brought out the final bag of trash and she didn't have the chance to finish.

Then they drove back to her house. They had mostly just talked about party details and excitement for the dance on the way over, but now that they were there, Elsa seemed to have switched gears.

"So… the… last night."

Anna froze in mid-movement, hand so close to the door handle.  _So close_ _…_  "Right. The kissing?"

Elsa nodded, not looking her way. "Yeah, that. And… everything else… I'm sorry it got so out of hand; I kept meaning to stop, but you were so…"

"Elsa, I think we both know why you found it so easy to release your inhibitions. And it wasn't just that I was 'so' anything, was it?"

The blonde's porcelain cheeks darkened, and this time she could tell Elsa was a little ashamed of herself. "Maybe you're right. I would have really wanted to do it, anyway! But, um, you're probably tired of hearing me act so gay about this."

Anna winced. That was the first time in a long while that she had heard that word used as an insult, and it was Elsa insulting herself. So she reached over and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You're okay, you know. I mean… maybe we both need to learn some self-control; clearly it's a real problem. And I'm not super thrilled you were drunk, but nobody died, and… and we'll both get over it." Maybe. Anna wasn't sure she'd ever be over this, but her mother didn't need to hear that right now. "So stop beating yourself up, okay? It was a little bump-and-grind, not a train crash."

That seemed to do the trick, however. Elsa lifted her head and shot a grateful smile. "Thanks, Tori," she breathed. "I'll um, I'll see you tonight! It's gonna be the raddest and baddest!"

Opening the door, Anna finally escaped into the cool morning air. Though that wasn't really fair. It wasn't Elsa she was trying to escape from – it was her own feelings. Which was really messed up.

Sighing to herself, she trudged up towards the door. As she got closer, she could hear strange sounds coming from inside. A few muttered expletives (that were about as vulgar as "Dante's Inferno!") joined in the cacophony, and Anna was almost scared to open the door.

Then there was a scream of "Fire!", giving her no choice but to burst in.

A smoke-filled garage greeted her, including a very flustered Doc stamping out the last remains of a pile of laundry. Not that Anna had any idea why it had been burning in the first place. Her heart did beat a little faster but she didn't truly panic since he seemed to have it under control.

"Hey, Doc! What the hell is all this?!"

"An experiment!" What other answer had she expected? As she helped him put away the fire extinguisher, he went on, "I've been trying to work out the calculations in my head, but sometimes a practical test is in order!"

It was then that Anna noticed the model of Dell Valley. Every detail was represented, even if crudely. For a second, she merely walked around the table, coughing into her fist and marvelling at the handiwork.

Doc moved to stand next to her. "Apologies. I was pressed for time so it's not as accurate as it could have been."

Anna goggled him for a moment. "It's uh… it does the job," she said, voice disbelieving. Geez. She wondered when he could do if he actually  _did_  have time.

"That it does," he agreed. "Now, from my tests I've been able to determine where you need to start driving from, taking into account the time, acceleration speed, and the weight of the car."

"Cool. Basic physics. How are we going to channel the lightning into the car?"

Doc picked up the little model he was using as the DeLorean. There was a wire jutting up from the rear; it looked like a bumper car. "This." Putting the car on the model road, he began 'driving' it towards the clock tower. There was a wire hanging across the road, connected to the tower, that Anna had missed earlier. "If my calculations are correct – and they are – the moment the lightning strikes the tower, it will channel through this cable suspended between these lampposts. The car will make contact and, presto, you get sent back to 2015."

"Nice!" Anna couldn't stop a little grin from forming on her lips or the little thrill of excitement. Not many people boast about being struck by lightning. But then pretty much no one could really boast about being in Anna's position right now, either, since she was actually the first human to ever time travel.

Nodding his agreement, Doc returned back to stand at her side. The gleam in his eyes was unmistakable, and she thought he looked like a kid who finally figured out how to tie their shoes. "This is our best and only shot. Otherwise, I'll probably have to find some terrorist group willing to part with plutonium, and trust me… that is not going to go quite so easily in 1985 as it will in 2015."

His chuckle at the end was distinctly derisive. But his mention of a terrorist group brought something back to Anna's mind that she couldn't ignore any longer.

"Right. Yeah, um… about that." Clearing her throat, she glanced down at the fake street on the scale model, then back up at Doc's face. "There's something I need to tell you. That night-"

"Nope," he forestalled her, holding up his hand and closing his eyes. "Not a word, not a word. The consequences for the future could be disastrous. I won't hear another syllable."

At that, Anna frowned. "Come on, this isn't just me telling you what the hot phone apps are gonna be! It's really-"

"You can't tell me!" This time, he set the model DeLorean down and grasped her shoulders. "Listen… whatever it is, I'll find out through the natural course of history. Look at the damage we've already done through ignorance. What if I began doing things deliberately to work toward a certain end? I could sabotage myself irreparably! Make things even worse for us, create another paradox!"

"Paradox? You mean that universe-destroying thing like me never being born?" Sighing, she wilted. "Fine. You're the doc, Doc."

"Good. Now, what do you say we try another experiment? Only hours left to go!"

Anna assisted him, though her heart felt heavy thinking about what had become of the Doc she knew. There was no way she could let that happen. But clearly, she was going to have to think of another way to warn him. Telling him straight out was going to be met with opposition no matter how she approached it.

And as Doc reset the model city to do another test run, Anna thought she knew exactly how.

~ o ~

After seeing to her plan, the rest of her day was spent working on her hair and nails. Normally, Anna didn't care much about that, but she knew as much as any girl and muddled through on her own. The only thing left to do was to put on her dress – though she didn't want to until the last second, however, given her own experience with nice clothes and toothpaste.

When she was done, even she was rather proud of the result. Her twin braids had been lost – instead, she'd wrangled her hair into a somewhat elaborate bun. Nails that would match the colour of her dress, once she put it on. A work in progress but everything was shaping up pretty well.

And good thing, too. She and Doc had a reasonably tight schedule, but Anna was also reasonably confident that everything would go okay. She refused to get too cocky, however; that was how she normally handled things, and she had to be better than she was normally.

The lightning was going to strike the clock tower at exactly four minutes past ten. To get there from the school, Anna had make sure Kristoff came out to save Elsa at nine at the absolute latest. There would be enough time for Anna to give a heartfelt apology and for Elsa to decide she was better with Kris. Then a last goodbye and she was off, sailing into the future that wouldn't have ceased to exist.

She hoped. But she had to try. Giving up would accomplish nothing.

When the front doorbell rang, Anna ran down the stairs in a bit of a daze. Elsa was early! Anna wasn't in her dress, but not her clothes from the party, either – instead, she had on one of Doc's old polos. Terribly underdressed but hoping Elsa would understand, since she was early, she opened the door–

And felt her pulse flatline.

Elsa Baines was decked out in a stunning blue dress, made of satin or lamé or something. A white cardigan covered her shoulders and chest, and the exposed part of her neck showed off an elegant pearl necklace – one with a small sapphire pendant that was not nearly gaudy enough for the era. Probably her grandmother's, though Anna couldn't remember having seen her wear it before, nor the matching bracelet on her left wrist. The dress hung down just past the knees, a little longer on one side, and the look was finished off with a silvery strap heel. Now she noticed that Elsa's toes were blue to match, like her fingernails were as they nervously hung onto the sequinned handbag. Even her hair was tamer than usual, the wild locks sweeping backwards from her temples. It wasn't a perm, and Anna realised that Elsa looked… completely different to how she expected.

And that she would look completely terrible in comparison. How was this gorgeous queen supposed to show up standing next to an actual trash bag?

"Tori? What is- are you wearing  _that_  to the dance?"

"Like it matters," she sighed in utter defeat. "Next to you, I'm gonna look like a square anyway. But I do have a dress. I just… couldn't quite get it on by myself."

"Ahh, and I suppose your uncle isn't much help?" Anna shook her head, eyes still stuck on Elsa. It didn't seem to make the other girl uncomfortable. "Did you want- I mean, I could… help?"

"Yeah, please," she laughed. "I mean, without you I'll be struggling into it and asking Doc- I m-mean, my uncle, to zip me up, but… you doing it is better."

That certainly got her young mother smiling as she nervously shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "Rad. I mean, um, I'm glad to help. Want to show me to your room?"

That was exactly what Anna did. She couldn't help but think how silly this would be if she was living in Doc's tiny shack in the future; showing Elsa to a living room couch. Still, the cozy little corner of the house was nice, even if there were no real personal touches other than her clothes for the prom and a pair of sneakers near the foot of the bed.

"Cute room," Elsa breathed nervously, tossing her handbag next to the door so she wouldn't forget it. "So um…"

"Yeah, let me just… get started." However, she didn't move a muscle. "Yep, here I go." Nothing. She knew the reason she was so nervous, and the reason was standing a couple of feet away from her, but knowing it didn't seem to help her overcome the anxiety.

At least Elsa also seemed to understand. Ears burning red, she turned around without a word. And maybe that made it worse. Ripping her shirt off, although still trying not to mess up her hair, Anna tossed it to the side. She heard Elsa inhale sharply behind her. Pushing past that, Anna quickly stepped into the dress. The longer it took, the tenser the space between them became. Finally she had the cup sleeves up over her shoulders, the ruffles of the hem bobbing about mid-thigh. It wasn't a terrible shade of green, but the shoulder pads made it impossible to forget the era. Who put shoulder pads with cup sleeves?!

Either way, by the time Anna was able to manage a soft, "R-ready," she found that she didn't feel ready at all. Not for any of it. She wasn't ready for the dance. She wasn't ready for Elsa to step close.

She wasn't ready to go home.

Then she felt soft hands sliding up the exposed middle of her back. "It's a nice dress," Elsa whispered softly, the air caressing over her skin.

"Y-yeah? You like it?" When Elsa only continued to tease her, she managed a weak chuckle. "Or… do you like what's in it a little more, maybe?"

"Sorry." Except she didn't seem sorry; not if the little kiss she left on the back of Anna's neck was any indication. "You're just so… irresistible."

Then she did it again, ending the little kiss with a sigh against Anna's skin. With the zipper done up, her arms came to circle around Anna, holding her there. Perhaps Elsa had remembered their time together was fast coming to an end. Just as she was blinking back tears, she felt Elsa step away.

"Els-?"

"I um, I got a camera for my birthday. I haven't used it much because I haven't really had anything that I wanted to take a picture of. And I guess… now I do."

Alarm bells immediately began ringing in Anna's head. She head Doc's voice, warning her about how it might change the future. Confronted with Elsa, looking so vulnerable, and her own small understanding that she's already fucked herself over regarding time travel… it made it so easy to break and give a shaky nod.

"Great!" Elsa breathed, her entire face lighting up with glee. "Hang on, let me get it - this is gonna be so awesome!" She turned and crouched down, beginning to rummage through her sequined handbag for the camera…

And poor Anna had to suppress a flicker of heat as she watched an appealing rump shift back and forth with the effort of locating the device. Did she have to find  _every_  part of this teenage version of her mom attractive?! She was still gazing stupidly in that direction when Elsa straightened up and turned back around.

"Okay, so it does have a timer, so I think if I set it on… the… what?"

"Huh?"

Elsa blinked a few more times before the mischievous smirk began to pull at her lips, passing the ancient camera idly between her hands. "I think somebody was just checking out the goods while I was bent over."

"I think… someone's a little… full of themselves," Anna managed to retort. Incredibly unbelievably. She felt puffed, even though she'd done nothing to cause it. Elsa's smile only widened.

"I think someone was checking out the goods," she repeated, "and I think someone  _liked_  it." She bit her lip and took a few steps closer. The way she was looking at Anna could only be described as "sultry", and Anna felt her whole mouth go dry. When Elsa finally came to a stop, just in front of her, Anna felt her pulse thrumming fast enough to bring on a heart attack. She could hear the blood in her ears, and actually missed it when Elsa asked her a question.

"Wh-what?"

The smirk was back – it actually seemed wider than before, too! "I asked if you're ready for this picture?" Elsa repeated. Anna's face burned.

"Sure. Sure, yeah, um… yeah let's do it let's go let's picture."

"You don't sound ready," she teased as she moved to set the camera on the dresser. And this time, Anna could very much tell that Elsa was moving her ass around on purpose as she attempted to aim the camera lens properly.

"That donk," she couldn't help breathing.

"What's a donk?"

"N-nothing."

Giggling, Elsa turned back to smile at her. "I'm gonna give you a pass for being a total dweeb, because… I think you're really hot, too." Then she bit her lip for a second before adding, "Oh, can you put your heels on? So we're closer to the same height and all that?"

Anna was so nervous that it took her more than a few tries to get the first bright pink plastic high heel on. By then, Elsa was kneeling in front of her with the other one, slipping it on as if she were Prince Charming. Her heart certainly didn't feel like it would slow down anytime soon. Then Elsa was looking up at her, smiling all soft. Her thumb, whether she was aware of it or not, was stroking the skin on the top of Anna's foot. It was such a delicate gesture, and Anna felt her bottom lip tremble again. She tried for a smile, and Elsa released her foot so she could stand up.

She was  _really_  in trouble.

"P-picture time?" she asked. Elsa took her hands, and for the first time since arriving in the past, Anna felt herself looking at a glimpse of the woman who would one day be Elsa McFly. That sweet spot between Anna's birth and the alcoholism that was in full swing by the time her youngest daughter was twelve. The eyes of someone who cared  _with all her heart._  It only lasted a moment – less than a second, really – but it was enough to sober her up.

"Ready?" Elsa asked, and all Anna could manage was a nod. There was a quick movement while Elsa set the timer before she had returned. This time she stood next to Anna, who tucked her head into Elsa's shoulder. Whether it was instinct or insight, Anna couldn't say.

_Flash._

"Got it!" she cried out as she dashed over to the camera, snatching the Polaroid and waving it back and forth gently to help it develop faster. All smiles. This was a woman who was truly full of joy to be where she was then and there.

Anna came up and stood behind her, stomach tying itself into knots. How bad was it? How recognisable would she be? Her deepest hope was that she could get back to her own present day and her mom wouldn't remember having the hots for her, which was going to be a  _lot_  more difficult if there was photographic evidence laying around…

"Awww, why did you do that?" Elsa half-laughed as they gazed at the two of them on the celluloid. You could see the top half of Anna's face very clearly - and could tell by the bunching of her cheeks that she was grinning - but the lower half was shrouded behind her mother's shoulder.

"Sorry! I'm just… I was blushing, b-because you, with the shoe thing, and…"

"It's okay," she giggled. "It's really cute. Thanks, Tori; you let me be a lame geek, and I appreciate it."

Anna smiled at her. She was still smiling even as Elsa began packing up the camera, and it only broke when Elsa, stood in front of her, tried to give her the picture.

"W-what? No, Els. You- you should have it…"

"Huh? Oh… well, I mean, we could both have one. Here, let's do this again."

"Alright. Wait…" A smirk stole over her face. "Let me have the camera. Just for a second."

Curious now, Elsa indulged her. Anna took the camera, turned it around, and held it at arm's length as far as it would go, slightly above them. "Okay, purse your lips like you're gonna kiss somebody."

"Hm? Oh, sure." Elsa obeyed, leaning in and pursing her lips, though still looking at the camera. A thrill shot through Anna's stomach as she repeated the same gesture, and she felt her mother shiver at the closeness. They might as well really have kissed again.

"Okay, now hold it… hold it…" Then she pursed her own lips just before hitting the shutter. "OW!"

"Ow, ow," Elsa echoed as she rubbed at her eyes from the flash. But once the bright spots stopped dancing in front of their eyes, she nabbed the Polaroid from the front of the camera. "What the hell were we doing? I've never taken a picture like that before."

Anna had to forcibly stop herself from answering "A selfie"; she knew that word wouldn't exist for another couple of decades, and Doc would kick her butt if she did even more to disrupt the timeline. "It'll be cute. Just you wait."

The result was a sepia-toned image, only very slightly out of focus. The whole scene was softer because of it. And yes, they were dressed in 80s attire, but the angle and duckfaces were strictly Millennial. A unique artefact if ever there were one.

"Oh my God, Tori, we look ridiculous!" Elsa cackled. There was a massive smile on her face regardless, complete with a pretty red tinge in her cheeks that wasn't just the make-up. She passed over the picture anyway. "You're so unusual, but like… really cool."

"Thanks. And thanks for this; it'll remind me how much fun I had with you this week."

That was a sobering thought, and Elsa's smile slipped from her face. "Y-yeah," she said, very quietly.

"Awww, c'mon, turn that frown upside down," she chirruped with a big grin as she blew on the Polaroid and slipped it into her bag that stood on her dresser - the one Doc would be throwing into the DeLorean soon enough. "I'm just happy we got to hang out so much! And we still have tonight! Let's rock the Casbah!"

"Well…" Huffing for a moment, Elsa finally seemed resigned and nodded, patting down her hair as she finally smiled again. "I guess you're right. Come on, let's get to the dance. I can't wait to see all those nerds go crazy when they see two girls walking in together!"

The little chuckle was weak, but it was the best Anna could manage. "Yep. Can't wait."

"Okay," Elsa breathed as they moved downstairs, obviously as nervous as Anna was. One of her hands came up to delicately push aside a wisp of her wild hair, tucking it back into one of the wings sweeping backward from her temples. "Do… I still look good?"

"Fuck me." However, she had to shake herself when she realised that it wasn't used as frequently as an exclamation of disbelief in the 80s, and that Elsa would probably take her literally. "I m-mean, yes! Yeah, you're gorgeous!"

Elsa had blushed a deep red at hearing Anna's expletive, and it only got worse at the follow up comment. "Thanks. Um… so you're channeling your Cyndi? Though your hair's not wild enough."

Immediately, Anna was flooded with ideas that could most certainly result in messy hair. Coughing awkwardly, she held out her arms. "Yep! I bop! Anyway, let's uh, let's get to going."

But Elsa didn't move. At least, not to the car. She actually took a step forward. Her hands ceased their fidgeting, coming up to hover in the space between them. Anna said nothing, and within moments, Elsa made a decision.

Her hands fell forwards, down to rest briefly –  _appropriately! –_  on Anna's hips. There were mere centimetres between them; so few that Anna could smell the mint on Elsa's breath; could count the pale freckles dotting her nose. Anna held her breath. She knew what Elsa wanted to do, knew that she should stop her. But, she found that she couldn't; not after making out, grinding, getting themselves off in mixed company. She was completely helpless by now.

Not that her resignation was needed. Elsa surprised her, yet again, by curling her arms around Anna's waist and pulling her into a hug.

"Wha-"

"I'm so glad I didn't screw things up," she breathed against Anna's shoulder. "This night is going to be incredible. I… I can't believe I get to go with you!"

A little droplet of guilt fell into the pit of Anna's stomach, but she ignored it soundly. Maybe she shouldn't have been so disappointed that this wasn't going to be a real date. That Elsa didn't kiss her. That was stupid… wasn't it?

"Tori?"

_Wasn't it?!_

"I'm glad, too," she finally forced herself to breathe, pressing her hands into Elsa's back through her cardigan. "Now… let's go make everybody jealous that they don't look as rad as us."

Finally, Elsa drew back to grin at her. "For sure! Joan Jett, eat your black heart out!"

_To Be Continued_ _…_


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> STRONG sexual content, including an attempted assault. Reader discretion is advised.

Soon enough, Anna and Elsa were piling into the Gremlin to finally hit the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance. The basic plan was for Doc to set up everything at the site, keeping the DeLorean under a tarpaulin as he left to pick Anna up from the school. She had just over an hour and a half, maybe two, to get everything done. It was cutting it fine, but she knew it was possible.

Except Elsa seemed to be taking her time. Anna was positive they were driving in circles – and her suspicions were confirmed when Elsa indicated left onto the main road for the third time, driving past the Pizza Hut again.

"Um… Elsa?" she asked. "Everything okay?"

"Great!" came the much too cheery reply. She didn't say anything else, but at least she seemed to actually begin driving towards the school now. So it was fine – maybe she just got lost going there from Doc's place.

However, when they finally did arrive, Elsa also seemed to spend ages looking for a parking space. Anna was most definitely curious, and she had the perfect opportunity to probe Elsa for answers when she had her hand on the door handle and Elsa suddenly threw an arm past her, slamming down the lock. Anna could easily open it again, but that wasn't the point. When two students walked past the car, Elsa slumped, sinking low in her seat.

Perhaps she was less comfortable with this than Anna had assumed. Less comfortable than she had hoped. Forcing back her disappointment, Anna turned to her friend. Elsa was biting her lip and refused to look her way. The headlights of a passing car illuminated Elsa's face briefly, and the water gathering in her eyes.

"Elsa…"

"I'm such a moron."

The words were soft; if they hadn't been so close, or so silent, Anna would have missed them entirely. They caused her to turn almost fully in her seat. "What do you mean? Come on, you are not."

"No, I… I really expected that I would get here, and… and it w-would be easier to do this. But here I am, a big chicken. Nothing but a chicken in a shiny blue dress who can't be seen in public with the woman I…"

She sucked in a breath and didn't finish her sentence. Immediately, Anna felt her heart shooting up to lodge between her neck muscles. What had Elsa been about to say? Was it really what it sounded like?! Of course not! No way did she feel that strongly for her after a single week!

Yet the way Elsa was panicking told her it was true. Anna wanted to comfort her, to put her arm around her back and tell her it was going to be okay. Elsa deserved that reassurance, that gentle nudge toward a healthier life.

However… she couldn't give it to her. They still had about five or ten minutes before Kristoff was supposed to get there after all that driving in circles. Nevermind that she would be leaping thirty years into the future, never to revisit this younger version of her mother again. At this point, she could afford no further delays; she had to put her plan into action.  _Now_.

But when she turned to look at Elsa and reply, she saw her tipping back a small brown bottle. Yelping, Anna snatched for it – only to find it was already empty.

"Elsa, what are you  _doing_?!"

"Grabbed it during the party," she replied after coughing a few times. "Like, I have more in my purse if you want some. Was… kinda hoping the first one would be enough to steady my nerves, though."

Now Anna felt like crying, though her tears would be borne of frustration, unlike Elsa's. "No, I don't want any! I hate alcohol. I  _hate_  it, you already know that!"

Closing her eyes, she took a few breaths. She couldn't be angry with Elsa, otherwise there was no way she'd be able to enact the plan in time. Plus, if Elsa's reaction to her outburst – shrinking away, looking at her hands in shame – was anything to go by, she may have been about to have a meltdown. Already the tears from earlier had begun to fall.

Swallowing, Anna turned to Elsa. Reaching out a hand, she gently stroked one smooth cheek, brushing away the tracks. "I'm sorry for snapping. This… I know I sound like a lame PSA, but alcohol is never the answer. If you ever forget me, please just remember your promise."

Elsa's head jerked up. "I could  _never_  forget you," she whispered, hushed but with a surprising amount of conviction. It warmed something in Anna's heart – it was something she could hang onto, back home. When it felt like everyone hated her, including her own mother, she'd remember that.

Simultaneously, they both became aware of the fact that Anna's thumb was still stroking Elsa's cheek. Anna made to jerk her hand back, but quick as a whip, Elsa's own hand came up to cover Anna's, holding it fast. She wasn't crying anymore.

"I just… wanted to give myself a little liquid courage," she finally whispered, the truth spilling out around the edges of her mental dam. "Wanted to… walk straight into that dance with you and not have the slightest… b-but I knew I couldn't. Not without help."

"So you could get help from  _me_. Not from a bottle." Wasn't she supposed to be taking advantage of Elsa? That wasn't going very well.

"Yeah. You've said that before." Clearing her throat, she glanced in the direction of their unified hands, the thumb on her cheek. "I don't know how you do it."

Swallowing hard, Anna felt herself leaning toward Elsa. It was stupid. Not just unwise, but  _stupid_. "How I do what?"

"How you be the prettiest woman I've ever seen and the most pure, good, intelligent, rad, and… and I don't know, Tori. You're just Madonna and Aimee and Cyndi all put together, it's like…  _magic_ _._ "

How was she supposed to stop herself from kissing Elsa after words like that filled her stomach with butterflies? Of course she couldn't. And she didn't even try; before, she had been running through a list of ideas of how to avoid this kiss, but then she said that and it had to happen immediately. She had earned it by being the truly sweet soul that Anna knew her to be.

It was supposed to be short and sweet. Well, technically, Anna wasn't supposed to kiss her at all; this was supposed to be the part where she got handsy. She couldn't find it in herself to regret it, though. Not when Elsa made the most gorgeous sound. It began as a squeak, probably more from surprise than anything… and then it changed. A low, soft moan started in the back of her throat, and both hands came up to make sure Anna wasn't going to move away.

Even if she wanted to, Anna didn't think she'd have the strength to put any distance between them; indeed, she felt herself encouraging Elsa to come closer. There was no center console, which meant that there was nothing stopping them from reducing the distance.

Not that it would have made much difference. Perhaps it was because Anna wasn't sitting behind the wheel; perhaps it was because Elsa was calling the shots. Regardless, before either of them knew what had happened, Elsa was astride Anna's lap, dress bunched around her hips and barely covering anything anymore.

If Elsa even realised the position they were in, she did nothing other than continue to kiss Anna. It was she who darted her tongue out, gently tapping at Anna's bottom lip. Her hands cupped her cheeks, surrounding Anna's ears and using the position to pull her even closer. Anna's heart thundered in her chest, and had she the capacity of thought, she would have guessed that Elsa's was doing something similar.

The more frequently this happened, the quieter the voice in the back of Anna's head that whispered 'Mom, no!' became. It never disappeared entirely… but it got softer, less insistent in the face of the pulse in her temples, the tingling in her extremities. This was bad. Elsa didn't just have the hots for her based on physical appearance – as fucked up as that was. These feelings ran too deep. No, a crush would have been easy to disentangle herself from. Unless she was mistaken…

The teenage model of her mother was completely in love with her.

Honestly, when she brought her hands up to Elsa's shoulders, she knew she had been intending to push her away and ask if they should really be doing this. What actually happened was that she held her fast as she opened her own mouth, as her tongue slipped up to trace its way over the one tasting her bottom lip. And it felt so  _good_. It shouldn't have, not being who they were to each other, but it was the best kiss of her life. And it was accepted readily, gratefully, tongues sliding over each other before retreating so the lips could continue caressing each other.

And something else was happening. Anna noticed, but she wasn't sure Elsa was even aware: she was grinding. How could she be grinding their hips together like that? How could she do it and not realise? Most importantly, how could Anna be letting that happen without being completely disgusted?! A little moan flowed up into the kiss as Anna lay beneath her, completely helpless.

"Holy shit," she breathed when the kiss finally broke, face a mess of crimson and lips gleaming from their kiss, eyelashes fluttering up at the equally red face above her.

"You did say 'fuck me'," Elsa teased, voice a cautious whisper despite how bold the actual words were. Her hips rolled again. "And… and I haven't been able to forget that. All the way here, it kept popping back into my mind."

So maybe this romantic attachment wasn't so one-sided. Anna's heart skipped a beat at Elsa's words, and she had to bite down hard on her lower lip to keep herself from making an embarrassing noise. Especially when Elsa leaned in close again, giving a third tantalising grind. The fabric of Anna's dress did surprisingly little in acting as a barrier between Elsa's supple body and her own. It only served to up the rising temperature in the car, especially when one of Elsa's legs rested against her thigh.

Without thinking, Anna slipped her hands under the thin material of Elsa's cardigan, slowly peeling the article off of Elsa until her bare shoulders were in clear view. Her breath stuttered when she realized that the dress was only being held up by Elsa's impressive bust rather than thin straps like she originally figured. "W-wow," she breathed, starstruck.

Almost automatically, Elsa raised a hand to cover her cleavage. Anna didn't even have a chance to look at it very long first. But after a second, she shrugged one shoulder and began to tug the top of her bust lower… and lower…

"Wait," Anna whispered gently, trying to shock herself into stopping what they were doing. Breasts.  _Her mother's breasts._  She was going to see them in a very specific connotation, and she couldn't undo this. "Elsa…"

"You were looking. I, um… I don't mind if you want to see more."

The shimmering fabric slid lower and lower over perfect milky mounds. Anna should be stopping her… but lately, all of that willpower she usually found so easy to tap into with everyone else had seemed to vanish when it came to Elsa. And given the direction their actions had been leading them towards… she couldn't even be surprised that this was the outcome.

Pink peaks came into view, and Anna felt her core pulsate in resonance. They were as inviting and erect as she had thought they would be back in the living room, when grinding against her own. She looked away in shame, then looked back out of sheer longing.

"Do- do I look okay?" Elsa asked. She hadn't tried to cover herself again, but her hands were fisted in her lap. She wasn't looking at Anna.

"Y-yeah…" Anna murmured. She wasn't sure what to do. She should be disgusted. These were mom-boobs; they weren't supposed to turn her on. Anna absolutely should not be feeling blistering heat simply by looking at them. She absolutely should not want to take one of those perfect peaks into her mouth.

Maybe she needed a distraction. Anna could just ask Elsa to cover up, but that would do far more damage than just hurt her feelings. The last thing Anna wanted to do – the last thing – was hurt Elsa's fragile teenage self-image. Rejecting her now… that would probably destroy any faith she had. Perhaps even give her a jumpstart on the alcoholism.

So she instead took Elsa's head in her hands, leaning forward to press another kiss to her lips. This one was far less messy; sweeter, more chaste. Elsa gave a shudder, letting out a soft, "Oh-ohhh…" when Anna's arms brushed her bared skin.

It had the result of pushing her chest even closer; while Anna's dress was not thin, she'd also forgone a bra – because it was filthy after a week and she didn't exactly have the body type that required one. Suddenly, she had let go of Elsa, shifting uncomfortably from the renewed heat of being able to feel those peaks sliding over her own pierced set.

And, unwise as it was, trying to bare her own chest. It felt like she would die from that heat if she didn't release some of it somehow. Her lips descended to pepper Elsa's soft breast with light kisses as she worked on her dress, and she could see the peaks harden yet more as she finally found her way to one.

"Anna… mmhh, what are you doing to me?"

The motions had another side effect, however; their hips were already grinding back and forth over each other, but all the jerky motions seemed to make it that much worse. Anna finally gave up, since her cap sleeves made it almost impossible to pull it down, and she certainly couldn't lift the dress all the way up over her head in that position. Damn it, why couldn't this have happened during the party when her clothing wasn't one continuous piece?!

"I-it's alright," Elsa panted when she noticed her frustration, smiling down at her through her lingering blush. "Actually… I've already seen those, hot as they are…" Her hands slid up and pet over them, causing Anna to whimper. "But there's something else I wanna see."

"What?" she breathed as her mouth pulled away, sparing her having to decide if she should really start suckling at her mother's breast as if she were still her baby. But the instant said mother began to slide downward off her lap, obviously intending to kneel on the floor, Anna knew exactly what. She had to push a hand into her mouth to strangle a scream.

"Hey, you okay?"

"I…" Hands on her knees, chest still heaving, she tried to make words form. "That's…" Her legs were being hoisted upward; one of her heels fell off along the way and she let out a fresh squeak when she felt the cold windshield pressing into her ankle. "Elsa… do you really…?"

Alabaster shoulders rose and fell as she began to roll up the material covering Anna's thighs even higher. "Well… I don't really know what I'm doing, no. But from a few books I happened to find in the library…"

"Books?! They write  _books_  about this stuff?" But it stood to reason; Anna had just never thought about that. She figured all lesbian erotica mostly existed in online forums. Hot breath between her thighs made it harder to think about that subject, and then she saw Elsa closing her eyes as her face drifted inward.

"Mmm…"

The instant she realised Elsa was inhaling, catching her scent, she tried to close her thighs – a little too late, of course. "O-oh…"

"Wow," she breathed, drawing back a little to look up at Anna. Her cheeks were still burning, but she looked like a woman on a mission now. "It's wonderful… I'm a little surprised. Until now, I just kind of assumed it would be… well, kinda funky. But how could it be when it's you?"

"Mmm… Elsa…"

The utterance of her name seemed to shake something within Elsa, however. Her eyes slid shut, cheek coming to rest against Anna's inner thigh.

"Tori…" she said. "You have no idea what you do to me…"

Swallowing thickly, Anna was inclined to disagree. It was pretty plain to see exactly how Elsa felt. That voice in the back of her brain started screaming,  _'Your mom wants to FUCK you! How are you letting this happen?! She's going to give you head and you're supposed to be the one doing this TO her, making her mad so the plan works! Why are you so weak?!'_

It was rather dark in the car, but there was enough light filtering through for Anna to watch as this blue-clad goddess refocused on her task. Turning her head just so, she began to kiss the freckles skin of Anna's thigh, moving slowly further in. Until the very end, Anna held out the hope that perhaps Elsa would recoil; she'd decide that maybe she didn't want this. And as disappointing as that would be, it would also be for the best. Much though she hated it, Anna was too weak to stop this force of nature.

"Elsa…" Anna choked out. Her hands came to brush at Elsa's hair – it was much softer than she'd expected, despite all the hairspray. When Elsa let out a sigh, it resonated through her skin, shooting straight to her core. "Elsa!"

That caused the blonde head to raise up slightly and smile at her. "I haven't even done anything yet!"

"Are you kidding? You're driving me crazy!" The lips grazed even further up, pressing into the fabric of her underwear. Kneading for a moment, then turning back to the soft thigh-flesh. Then…

Fingertips hooked over her waistband. This was far more than she could have expected; Elsa was really going for it. Anna couldn't let this keep happening, she had to stop her! But she had no power left in her heart to pretend…

Because truth be told, a huge part of her  _wanted_  this. Vile as it was, there was nothing she desired more at that moment than to let her young mother do whatever she wanted to her body. To feel that heat, and that connection with her. Allow themselves to stop caring about everything outside of that car for just a moment…

"Sorry," Elsa murmured when she dislodged the other shoe in her haste to take the panties off. By way of a quick apology, she kissed Anna's calf, an oddly tender expression that defied the desperation with which the shoe had been forced off, then casually tossed the conquered garment into the backseat.

"Ah!" Anna breathed, glancing over her shoulder.  _Victoria's Secret._  She couldn't leave those in the past – an underwear design that wouldn't exist for almost thirty years – but she had other things to worry about.

Cool air met the wetness that had been building all during their encounter as Elsa pushed her dress up again, moved in for the kill. Got a good, long eyeful. Try as she might to pretend that look in her clear blue eyes wasn't hunger, Anna couldn't. And seeing Elsa lick her lips only made it painfully clear.

"Do- can I?" Elsa asked softly. Anna snorted. It was a little late for that. This was her last chance to refuse, though. This was her opportunity to get a rein on her libido, to say 'maybe next time' instead.

Anna looked at Elsa, opened her mouth and murmured, voice heartbreakingly small, "…Please…"

Elsa hesitated for only a second before leaning forward, lips pressing ever-so-gently against Anna's slick skin. Neither bothered to fight back the moan. And then Elsa did it again, pressing harder. Her hands tightened on Anna's hips, which only increased the pleasure Anna felt.

"You taste so sweet!" Elsa said after a moment. She moved back enough just to give Anna a smile; Anna had to close her eyes, hips rolling forward at the sight of wetness on Elsa's lips. Sucking in a breath, she was helpless to react as Elsa leaned forward again. This time, she was braver, tongue dipping out to taste every inch of the writhing woman beneath her.

The sound that welled up from inside Anna felt ugly and obscene. This was all wrong. As wonderful as it felt, as much as she wanted to let herself believe everything would be fine, that she wasn't ruining herself and tainting every memory of her mother… this was a mistake. But it was too late for eleventh hour bravery.

Anna's legs parted further as the deft tongue flitted up and down her wetness. Her  _sweetness_ , if Elsa was telling the truth. Did she really love doing this? Did she really love her?

"AH!" she burst out at one particularly firm lick that went a little higher than the previous attempts, and she raised her leg up until she was bracing against the windshield itself, which seemed to only open herself further to Elsa's advances. "Elsa! You're… oh GOD it feels so good!"

Drawing back after a moment, she managed to groan, "You taste so good! Tell me…" A light kiss on her petals. "Tell me what feels good? I'm learning, after all…"

"Well…" This was a new dimension in evil, but she might as well as long as they were throwing caution to the wind. "That last thing, where you went higher? Um…"

"Yes, so I heard," Elsa chuckled as she kissed the opposite thigh of the one she had been showing affection before. "You liked that."

Had Anna been in any other situation, she would have laughed. As it were, she could only give a shaking moan as she said, "Y-yeah. My clit's sensitive…" When Elsa only tilted her head to her side, she asked, "What?"

"I, um… I haven't heard of that. What is it?"

Oh god. This was  _not_  the time for a biology lesson. Elsa seemed to think the same, but when she did delve in to continue, it was with much less gusto. She paused for a second to look at Anna, eyebrow raised. "Well?" she said. She didn't wait for a reply, but by then it was obvious what she wanted.

"Ha-haven't any of your –  _ngh_  – books ever mentioned it?" Anna asked. Her hips rocked under Elsa's tongue, which was swiftly replaced by her fingers so she could respond.

"Nope," she said, fingertips fluttering. "But maybe I was too busy being embarrassed and shaming myself to remember details. Is it… this? The part that felt good when I was She Bopping myself?"

"Ah FUCK!" Anna's head swung back, hand clenching in Elsa's hair – and earning a moan from its owner at the tugging of her roots. "Yeah, that- that's it."

"Hmm… such a small thing has you reacting like that… interesting."

Whatever retort was on Anna's lips died there when Elsa leaned forward. Her mouth focused on the little bud while her fingers moved down, pressing gently in. Thank Christ she'd cut her fingernails.

From that moment on, Anna couldn't seem to make any sounds that formed coherent words. Elsa was definitely a quick study! Those lips and tongue were giving her new levels of pleasure that getting herself off in the shower had never even come close to achieving. But the fingers were going a lot further than she could have ever dreamed, and a sudden worry flared up in her.

"I… I'm a virgin, Elsa!" she managed to grunt, that leg still trying to push the windshield outward. "In-internally, I mean!"

"What? Oh… but I don't have a-" However, Elsa seemed to catch up before she finished that thought, and her eyes widened slightly as her fingers drew back from where they had been edging their way inside. "OH. Well… I don't h-have to do that. I can just… with my mouth? Or…"

Sensing that she was losing confidence in her abilities, Anna shook her head with a slight smile. "Hey, whatever you wanna do. Just wanted to warn you about… um, potential red mess?"

"Oh. Well… I don't mind getting messy." Her smile was definitely lascivious, and Anna felt a chill shoot down her spine. "But I don't want to ruin your dress. So…" Her lips fell to work again, devouring her throbbing clit and forcing Anna to cover her mouth yet again.

Quite frankly, it didn't matter what Elsa did at this point as long as she kept doing it. Anna's hips rocked to a beat of their own, and it was becoming evident to the both of them that she wasn't going to last long. She couldn't bite back the groans that erupted from her mouth; nor could she stop herself from holding Elsa's head in place.

It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever felt.

Judging from the soft sighs, occasional low hums and other more scandalous noises coming from the woman doing this to her, she wasn't the only one who thought like that. However, instead of racing to get Anna off now that her inevitable climax was close, Elsa actually slowed down to prolong it. Taking the time to savour the taste and work Anna up further.

And God, it was driving Anna mad in the best way possible. It wasn't long before a needy whine and a desperate, breathless, "Elsa, please!" was drawn out of her too. Any guilt that Anna had about this had flown right out the window at this point and in her lust clouded mind; now all she wanted was for Elsa to get her off so she could start returning the favour. Which she  _definitely_  wanted now.

Only then did Elsa's lips start assailing her much faster, her tongue swirling around the throbbing little button at the speed of light. Once or twice, she broke away from it to lap at the rest of her, which gave Anna a steady rise and fall of glorious pleasure the likes of which she had never even imagined before. It didn't even matter who Elsa was. It didn't matter who was down there as long as they kept going.

But it  _was_  Elsa. Her closest relative, the one whose blood and life she had shared. Or would share; time travel made all that jumbled up in her head, and she wasn't even sure she cared at that moment. In the most pathetic way, this was the best that her mother had ever made her feel in her entire miserable life.

So she might as well enjoy it.

"YES!" she cried out, rocking her hips up into the punishing tongue, toes trying to grip the slick glass as she braced for the climax that was rising with the speed of a rocket. "Elsa! So good, so- YES!"

Then it was all over. Not immediately; it took a good minute or two for every aftershock to fade, for her leg to stop cramping, for her mind to clear from the white-out it had experienced when the hot orgasm rolled through her every atom. But once it had, all that existed was her own body, panting, dripping with fresh sweat and trying to recover.

Elsa didn't say anything as she climbed up from the flooboard. She did let out a hiss, though Anna wasn't sure if it was due to the change in position, or due to the fact that she was… unsated. For now.

When Anna finally caught her breath, the first thing she did was scrounge around for her underwear. It wasn't pleasant, but she really needed to not forget them. She heard a little giggle from her mother as she grabbed for them, probably just thinking Anna felt too embarrassed to do without them. Which was also true, even if it wasn't the main motivating factor.

The second thing she did was push Elsa into the seat, kissing her soundly. Elsa let out a little squeak of surprise before she melted. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Anna thought that kissing Elsa when she tasted like her was really…  _really_  hot. Vaguely gross, but also hot.

When she finally pulled back from the kiss, Elsa was gazing up at her, cheeks flushed but somehow not nearly as much as they had been before she started going down on her. Perhaps it was because she finally got to affirm at least one thing: that their feelings for each other were strong, and real, and shared between them. Then she giggled. When Anna cocked her head to one side, surprised that she could possibly find anything funny in that moment, she pointed to the windshield.

"I'll have to clean that off before I go home."

Craning her neck over her shoulder, Anna first tried to look around outside, not seeing what she meant. Then she realised it was  _on_  the windshield; a smudgy footprint. Ducking her head lower, she whispered, "Sorry! Guess I… w-well, you were really… I wasn't-"

"It's alright," she whispered, smile radiant as the sun. "If this was my own car, I'd never wash it off. Be a cute little reminder of tonight."

"Tonight…" Anna didn't want to think about tonight. About how she was supposed to be setting her parents up together, not one of them with herself. About the experiment that could go all wrong, or could be futile if she went home to a future in which she didn't exist. But with Elsa laid out so beautiful beneath her…

"Penny for your thoughts?" her mother whispered. Just as she used to when she was little, or sometimes still did when she was completely wrapped up in her phone.

Anna suppressed a whimper as Elsa's soft hand reached up to rest on her cheek, the thumb caressing her skin in a gesture Anna always remembered from her childhood whenever she had a bad day. Elsa leaned forward and there was a little crinkle between her brows as worry began to set in. Even Elsa's perfume, crisp and fresh, was acting as a bitter reminder of her mother, even if the smell Anna used to love so much was now mostly masked by stale alcohol.

It was too much all of a sudden. The weight of what Anna had just allowed to happen was suffocating now that reality hit her like a freight train. And if she didn't get things back on track in the next few hours then…

"Hey…" Elsa kissed her other cheek, just like she always did, and pulled her in close for a hug. It had a very different energy, but it was so familiar that the shame washed over her like a wave of darkness. "It's alright. I'm sorry, I… god, what kind of grody skank am I? Way too soon, and way too much, and I didn't mean to-"

"I'm sorry!" Anna interrupted before she could keep apologising. "This isn't w-what I wanted! I was supposed to… b-but I keep fucking it up, I keep fucking it up!"

"You didn't fuck anything up!" Elsa exclaimed, pushing her back to hold both of her cheeks between her hands, face both serious and sympathetic. It was gorgeous. "I've known you weren't… well, that you were hot for me like I am for you, but still not ready! That girl back home, right? But I just… felt this connection, and needed to…"

Anna kissed her again, so they wouldn't have to talk. At least for a heartbeat of time. Her hand slid up of its own accord, pawing at the exposed breast and earning groans of pure need that flowed into the connection of their lips. Then she pulled back, tears slipping down her face.

"I think I… I did a really bad thing…"

"Don't be a spaz. What do you think you did?"

Anna was going to tell her. Everything; she might as well at this point. If she didn't, going back to 2015 would mean all of the universe would stop working, and she would vanish. Since her 'mission' was clearly a failure, there was only one option left.

Then it was too late. The car door was being jerked open, and Kristoff was going to pretend to beat her up. Might as well let him do it for real; she deserved it at this point.

Except it wasn't Kristoff at all.

"HEY!" Hans yanked Anna roughly from the car, pushing her against the cool metal. His face inches from hers, he spat, "You caused a grand's worth of damage to my car, you little  _bitch,_  and now you're gonna pay."

Once more, Anna felt herself being tugged forward. Before she even had a chance to react, there were several pairs of hands holding her as she faced Hans – and the car.

Inside she could see Elsa's terrified face. She had yanked the top of her dress back up to cover herself, thank God, but there was an undeniable post-coital messiness about her. Hans took a step closer to Anna, raising a fist; all she could see, though, was Elsa. She tried to smile reassuringly, and it must have done something because, before Hans could take a second step, Elsa had leaned forward across the seat.

"Let her go, Hans! You're drunk!" she said, as much conviction in her quivering voice as possible. He turned from Anna, irritation on his face. She couldn't see his expression, but he leaned against the car, the tone of his voice mocking.

"Well, looky what we have here," he sneered. Elsa's eyes flickered from him, to Anna, and then down to her ample cleavage. Eyes widening, she tried to back off. Hans didn't let her get very far. "No, no!" he cried, sliding into Anna's recently vacated seat and grabbing her arm. "Stay here with me. You and I are gonna party."

And then, without further ado, he mashed his face against hers. Elsa tried valiantly to fight back – and Anna struggled against Hans' posse with all her might – but he had her in a tight grip.

"Tastes like a certain dyke has already had some fun. It's okay baby, I'll fix you." Turning to his friends, he jerked a thumb. "Take her out back. This ain't no peep show."

_"Anna!"_

Oh god. Oh god, this was actually happening. "Get the fuck off me!" Anna cried, twisting in their arms. A solid punch to her stomach had her doubling over, winded and in pain. There was nothing she could do but fight for breath as she was dragged away, Elsa's cries for help still audible in the dark.

* * *

_To Be Continued…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out our new cover image! Thanks again to Prince for the beautiful artwork!
> 
>  


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming along on this historic journey! Don't worry, a Part II will be forthcoming after a short break to do more editing, but we thought it best for Part I to wind up with Anna returning to her own time (despite that not being how the movies are divided). Don't forget to follow this account for updates! We hope you'll keep reading along with us!
> 
> -Frui and Jess

The next thing Anna knew, she was being tossed into an open trunk, the lid slammed down on her and closing her off into darkness. At least Hans and his 'crew' didn't seem to be murderers, just jerks. That thought didn't really comfort her, knowing exactly what was going through Hans' head.

' _I'm gonna kill him,'_  ran through her own. She couldn't even be sure she was exaggerating; not if he went through with what she thought he was doing. All their lives, he had been  _this_  kind of dirtbag? How could everyone look the other way? How had no one run him out of town?!

"HEY!" she screamed, pounding at the inside and flailing, rocking the vehicle. She heard some laughter and shouts from outside. "Let me out! You can't do this!"

She yelled and screamed, beating the ceiling of the trunk until her hands felt swollen and bruised. Time had no meaning, and she felt frustrated tears drip down her face. It wasn't  _fair_.

She didn't know how long she had been trying to fight her way out of the car before suddenly the lid was being prised open. Never before had she been so glad to see a group of complete strangers.

"What the…?"

"Hey!" she panted, and when one of them reached in, she flinched. But she took it when she realised this was a friendly hand, not an aggressive one. "Oh… th-thank you, I'm… I didn't mean-"

"It's alright, girl," the man said, eyes narrowed in concern. The rest of them were preoccupied, having turned back to check on one of their friends once they were certain the girl was alive and seemed to be okay. She briefly saw that he seemed to be cradling his arm or something, but she couldn't stay.

"Thank you. God, thank you SO much, but my friend is…" Oh God.  _Elsa_. As she took off, she heard them shouting in concern, but she couldn't waste any more time. Elsa was in trouble!

When she finally turned the corner, she was just in time to see the grand finale. Hans was standing outside the Gremlin's door… and then sliding down its surface, plopping onto the ground in an unconscious heap. What the hell had happened while she was gone?

Kristoff happened.

Both of Anna's fists had to come up to rub at her eyes, just to make sure they weren't deceiving her. Kristoff, of all the people in the universe, was standing over Hans, his fist flecked with blood. His barrel chest was heaving, and his eyes slightly unfocused in vague shock. Then he began to laugh breathlessly, dazed.

"Son of a bitch," she managed to whisper, noticing that a crowd was beginning to form around her, slightly cutting off her view of the mayhem. Perhaps that was for the best. Finally,  _finally_  her parents were together. They made their way towards the hall, though Anna could see Elsa looking around for her. She didn't want to interrupt, but she was cognisant of the time – and the fact that, the last Elsa had seen of her, she was being dragged off by Hans' cronies.

The thing that pained Anna was simply the desperation with which she wanted to go to Elsa, make sure she was okay. Comfort her if necessary. But that was not what Elsa – or she – needed. They both needed that privilege to belong to Kristoff; Elsa because he had been the one to save her, and Anna because, really, he'd saved her too. Smiling to herself, she turned to follow them at a distance. Perhaps she should go and find Principal Weselton, make sure he knew what the "star athlete" was doing to his fellow classmates.

Pulling out the photograph – more a way to calm her mind than anything – Anna was prepared to let Elsa have a dance and then announce her sudden departure from their lives.

Her heart stopped when she realised her brother hadn't returned. Not only that, but half of her sister was missing.

The plan  _failed_.

Turning around, she began to stumble back the way she had come, gaping at the item in her hand. So much so that she bumped into one of the tall, dark, handsome men that had rescued her from the trunk-prison.

"Oh, sorry," she breathed. "I didn't mean to-"

"Don't even worry about it." His voice was weary as he turned around. "We're getting out of here, anyway. Glad you're alright, girl. Wish I had some shoes to loan you."

But she couldn't worry about shoes at the moment. She had just noticed they were all dressed in tuxedos. Much worse – they were all in the  _same_  tuxedos. A sneaking suspicion came over her when she saw one of the men nursing a cut across his palm.

"Are you… why are you guys leaving?" she asked, still not fully sure why she needed to know. Call it a gut feeling; this was important. She just didn't consciously realise  _why_  yet.

"Look at Marvin's hand," he said, tapping the bandage. There was blood leaking through the gauze. "I might be the golden throat of our act, but without him on the axe, we don't really have a show. And if we don't have a show, then we sure as hell don't need to be hangin' around a bunch of nerdy white teenagers for no goddamn reason."

"Sorry, Seb," the guy hissed. "Thought I could jimmy the lock with the crowbar, but…"

"Don't sweat it. You know it wasn't on purpose, we all do. There was a girl in trouble; what kind of men would we be if we didn't try?"

"Wait… you're the band." All five of them turned to glare at her. "So I'm a little slow. Are you saying that… you can't go in there and perform? Oh… this is… not great." She swayed on the spot, and shaking her head, she turned to them, desperate. "You don't understand. If you don't play, they don't dance. If they don't dance, they don't kiss, they never fall in love and I'm  _history_."

"What? Look, Little Orphan Annie, unless you know someone who can play, we don't got a choice, do we?"

Ignoring the comment about her red hair, Anna thought fast. This was why she was still disappearing! Because her mother and father shared their first kiss at this dance! There seemed to be only one way to prevent this disaster now.

"Wait! Hey, you need a guitarist, right? I can play. Let me help, please?"

The men looked between themselves, seemingly communicating nonverbally. "You think  _you_  can keep up with us?" one asked. Grinning, Anna nodded.

"Think you can keep up with  _me?"_

~ o ~

Being on stage was a dream come true. And scary. Anna was grateful that she wasn't expected to sing this time, because she was afraid the tremble in her throat would be too obvious – plus something something space-time continuum. She should be keeping a lower profile than this, but she didn't have much choice anymore.

As soon as Elsa caught sight of her, her eyes lit up, a soft smile playing on her lips. Raising her fingertips to her lips, Anna pressed them there for a moment before flicking out towards Elsa, encouraging her to turn back to dance with Kristoff. It was as close as she could get.

The next song chosen was a classic – perfect, too, as painful as it was. Yet another reason Anna was glad she wasn't singing; she'd probably start crying halfway through. The previous upbeat pop tune faded out, and then Sebastian took a step closer to he microphone, clearing his throat as their pianist began to play.

"This one's a little slower for all you lovers to get super close." It seemed cheesy banter was part and parcel of being a band at a high school dance.

When her cue came up, Anna lent her electric guitar skills, sending note after soaring note to wash over the crowd. The few guys who had looked at her dubiously when they saw some chick in a prom dress holding a guitar began to shrug and turn back toward their dates. Indifference was better than being booed off the stage.

"I wanted to be with you alone," Seb started crooning. "And talk about the weather…"

Anna was really glad they were playing 'contemporary' hits. Dances seemed to have a tendency to want to push 'older music' because it was safer and more family-appropriate, even though families didn't attend homecoming-slash-autumn dances. But 80s pop was right in her wheelhouse. She didn't know a lot of Flamingos or Penguins, but she knew the hell out of Tears For Fears.

"Something happens, and I'm head over heels – I never find out till I'm head over heels…"

As she looked on, Kristoff and Elsa began to sway gently on the dance floor. She looked right at home in his arms, even if she didn't look as excited as she had been in Anna's. This was the safer option… but 'safe' had a different meaning now that she had been rescued by the sandy-haired boy. He loved her enough to stand up to a bully who struck actual terror into his heart all throughout high school – perhaps all throughout his life. That was enough to turn any girl's head.

So Anna played her heart out, watched as they danced together. Her head was getting lighter, and her stomach felt a little odd… but she ignored it as best she could. Just had to get through this song.

When she saw Elsa looking at her over his shoulder, eyebrows raised, a thousand emotions swimming through her vision, Anna only flashed a smile she didn't truly feel and nodded. When she had a half-second, she raised her other hand and waved her on. That seemed to be all Elsa needed; permission from the girl she had just gone further with than ever before. Encouragement to let what was happening unfold.

Unfortunately, the action had the effect of knocking Anna off-balance. She stumbled to the side, strumming horribly off-key. Somewhere in her periphery, she noticed Sebastian watching her, eyebrow quirked. Yeah, she really wasn't doing as well as she thought she would; where had all her skill gone?

Eyes trained on where Elsa and Kristoff were currently making eyes at each other, she couldn't help but smile…

…before she tipped right over, landing rather heavily on her side. Fucking  _oww_. Putting her hand out to try and push herself up, it instead slipped on something that had fallen from her bra. Her head felt light, and she couldn't seem to get enough air into her lungs. Fingers finally managing to grasp whatever it was on the ground, she brought it up to her face.

Oh. The picture. Except now her sister had vanished, too. Right in front of her eyes, before they slowly began to fill with tears, Anna could see herself slowly fading.

It felt really crummy, too. Especially when she saw the hand actually holding the picture was fading – in real life.  _She was going to disappear._

"Well… that sucks," she whispered. But if this was going to be her last moment, then she didn't want to spend it thinking of dark things. Not when there were better things to look at. Swallowing her tears, she let the picture drop, gaze alighting on Elsa instead.

Apparently, some girl with black hair and a perm had cut in and was now dancing with Kristoff. Elsa looked a little annoyed, but she was sighing and turning toward the stage, resigned to letting him go. Eventually, she dodged around some other guy who tried to ask her to dance and headed toward the stage.

"No," Anna breathed in dismay. If she was going to go, she wanted to know Elsa would be taken care of…

And somehow, she heard her. Even over the song, which was muddling through without her guitar, and the chattering crowd, her mother's eyes perked up to see her – and they immediately filled with concern. But Anna mustered the last of her strength and pointed – with the less-invisible hand – at Kristoff. Just as Sebastian was singing, "Don't throw it away," Anna's mouth very clearly formed the words:

_"Get him back!"_

Elsa glanced between the two of them, and seemed as if she was going to protest… until she saw Kristoff sighing and rolling his eyes. Probably at something the unknown girl had said.

It was almost like magic. Even as Elsa began to stride toward them with a purpose, Anna felt energy slowly trickling back into her limbs. And when she watched her non-violent mother reach between them and physically shove the other girl's face backward until she left room for Jesus, her heart began to beat wildly.

"Don't worry," Elsa told him as she took one of his hands and rested the other on his shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere."

And as she leaned up to give him a kiss – a kiss that barely even qualified, really, as her lips pressed against his cheek, yet was so full of thanks and friendship, if not the blossoming beginnings of love – Anna surged to her feet and began to play again.

"And this is my four-leaf clover…" Sebastian sang, smiling as he saw Anna recover. Along with him and the rest of the band, Anna began to sing the backup "La la la la la" as she strummed, and they kept that up far longer than the original song required. She decided she was alright with that.

As the song reached its end, the words "Funny how time flies" echoing unnaturally, the students all began to cheer and clap. Anna took that opportunity to glance at her hand, then hastily look at the picture. It was back. Well, her siblings were wearing slightly different clothes, but all three of them were in the picture again, flashing similar plastic smiles and waving. She did it. Unbelievably, she didn't screw something up for once!

God she felt good. An energy, unfamiliar, seemed to fill her. Moving towards Sebastian, she said, "Mind a request for the next song?"

"Heh, sure thing kid," he said, stepping back from the microphone. Opening the floor to her. Beaming, she took the spot even as she turned to glance at the band.

"Now okay, this is a classic. We're gonna switch up the tempo and have a bit of fun with it, though."

Shooting a wink out into the crowd – aimed more specifically at one particular couple – she began the first few bars. It took the band a few seconds to get into it, but they must have really known their stuff because they played along perfectly.

And then Anna started sing, and she was really in her zone.

"Goddess on a mountain top," she cried. Looking over the crowd, it made her pretty damn happy that the kids were getting into it. A few looked confused, and a couple were mumbling amongst themselves. Ahh, who cared? "Burning like a silver flame!"

Elsa looked up, briefly, to smile at her again. This time, the wink was most certainly for one particular person. Ducking her head, Elsa turned back to Kristoff. He was uncoordinated and looked a bit awkward, but he was smiling, and Elsa was smiling. As she approached the chorus, Anna watched Kristoff lean down a little to ask Elsa something.

When Elsa glanced at Anna, eyes wide, she had an idea of what he asked. So, grinning, she gave a nod. The kiss Kristoff gave her was short and sweet. Barely a peck. But it was on her lips, and Elsa kissed back, and Anna's veins may have been on fire for all she knew. Maybe she did have mixed feelings about it, since she and Elsa had just pushed the bonds of friendship really far in her car less than an hour ago, but…

Everything was going to be okay. The world was not going to end, there would be no paradox, and her parents were together.

Therefore, the scream was very naturally welling up from the depths of her soul just before she got to the chorus. Putting one bare foot up on the monitor speaker, she leaned in as she sang out.

"She's got it! Yeah, baby, she's got it! Well I'm your Venus, I'm your fire and your desire!"

~ o ~

The rest of the dance went off without a hitch. Elsa and Kristoff smiled at her between their gyrations. Maybe they weren't the most sensual couple out there, the very "nerdy white teenagers" the band had bemoaned, but at least they looked like they were having fun. Anna could take that all the way to the bank. Save for one final incident in which she started mashing up random Katy Perry lyrics in with 'Venus', which made the rest of the band a little confused, they sounded great together.

"Another song?" Sebastian asked as she took off the guitar strap. "Don't gotta run off like this; you're a pretty bad mama jama!"

"Actually, I do," she laughed. "Wish I could stay, but… yeah, gotta bounce!"

As she sprinted backstage, he called after her, "Bounce what?!"

However, just as she was trying to slip out the side door, she saw Kristoff and Elsa heading in her direction. They had clearly already spotted her, so there was no use in trying to flee. She had been hoping to avoid this talk, but she stopped moving, hanging out as close to the door as she could get. It had to be getting late now so she couldn't stay for long, but they deserved better.

"TORI!" Elsa cried. Perhaps she had forgotten that she was surrounded by her schoolmates, and that Kristoff was standing right next to her. Maybe even the couple of swigs of alcohol from earlier was to blame. Either way, Anna was surprised when Elsa threw her arms around her, pressing a subtle kiss to her cheek.

"Wha-"

"That was amazing! I don't know where you got the idea for a dance-mix of Venus, but man, it worked!"

"Heh, thanks!" Wait, wasn't it already released? Damn; yet another time-travel screwup. "Well, I just got uh, inspired," she said. Then, looking between the two of them, continued, "So, uh… you guys, huh? Didn't I tell you?!"

Elsa looked away, light embarrassment coating her features. "After- after you were dragged away, Hans started to uh… But then Kristoff must have heard, or seen something, because then Hans was getting pulled off me and Kristoff punched him and- and I'm…" Here, her voice lowered. Kristoff could probably still hear it but he was doing a very good job of pretending like he couldn't, instead being completely taken with the band – which didn't sound nearly as good without a guitarist. "Is it possible to be like…  _part_ -lesbian?" she asked softly. Anna snorted, then smiled.

"You can be whatever you want, Elsa. You don't even have to label yourself at all if you don't want to. But I think 'bisexual' is the term you're looking for –  _if_  it applies. Totally up to you."

Elsa nodded thoughtfully. "Bisexual… I'll remember that word. Sounds kind of weird, but… but I think it's the perfect word for me. You think about things really differently from anyone I've ever met. You know, I'd love to come see where you live sometime; it sounds completely radical."

"It is," she chuckled, looking down in slight chagrin. "And I think you might like it there, but… that probably can't happen. Not for a long while, anyway. Wish I could say otherwise."

They were all quiet for a moment. It was Kristoff who first murmured, "You're taking off, aren't you? After tonight."

"Yeah." She had to work very,  _very_  hard to ignore Elsa's stricken gaze. That was too painful. "Um… but you two looked great together out there. I called it, right? Didn't I call it?"

As she was fingergunning, they both laughed. Then Kristoff chuckled, "You 'called it', I guess. I mean, I knew I liked her; just didn't think I stood a snowball's chance in Hell."

"Well now you know. And, um…" This was her last chance to set their future on the right path. Maybe she should leave well enough alone, but… "Don't forget to communicate. Always important; as long as you talk to each other, you can figure your way around any obstacle. Three children, three years apart, is the perfect number. Don't forget what I said about alcohol," she added to Elsa a little more specifically, even as she was still blushing from the last comment. "And um… if you ever catch a little girl accidentally setting fire to the living room rug when she's about eight… go easy on her?"

"Um… okay, we will," Kristoff laughed, pulling Anna into a hug. "Your advice might be mondo bizarro, but it seems to turn out to be just what we need to know, so… yeah, I'll never forget any of it."

"Follow your dreams, writer," she whispered to him before letting him go. "And it's been great getting to know both of you. Really, um… educational."

Then she turned to pad out of the gym. Her feet were beginning to protest being shoeless for so long, but she couldn't even care; the cool outside air refreshed her, and she felt contentment all throughout her body. The digital watch Doc had given her still had yet to go off; they weren't late. As long as she kept to this timetable-

"Wait," came a soft plea from behind her.

As she had already come to accept, Anna was completely helpless when it came to Elsa. The bleach-blonde gave a furtive glance around, then took Anna's hand to lead her closer to the door. Kristoff was facing away from them and watching the band again, but now that Anna thought about it, he was acting as a pretty good buffer from the rest of the hall. Maybe that was on purpose.

Even when they'd stopped moving, Elsa didn't say anything. Her eyes roamed Anna's face, the feeling of want, etched deep, that had become so familiar over the past week cascading from her in waves. She hadn't released Anna's hand – and when she realised that, she only held on tighter.

"Do you  _have_  to go? I- will I ever see you again?" she asked. Her voice was soft, but Anna had the feeling that, had it been louder, the tremble would have been more obvious. God. Now Anna wanted to cry. She was about to go home and never see this Elsa again. No, she could only look forward to a mother who was barely present, her only saving grace being that she was never abusive. But neither was she much of a mother.

And the saddest part was that… it was Elsa's future. This bright spark of a girl would be reduced to nothing but the vodka bottles strewn haphazardly on the floor next to her bed. Anna couldn't answer. Her chest felt heavy and her head throbbed; though at least this time it wasn't from her rapidly-fading existence. In that moment, she realised why Doc had been so adamant about not knowing the future. It cursed and it cursed; not only oneself, but the people they cared about too.

Swallowing, she tried a smile. "Maybe…" she said finally. "When you least expect it, and the time is right. No- no promises, though." Oh god, and now Elsa was tearing up. She released one of Anna's hands to wipe at her face.

"I think I love you," she choked. Valiantly giving a pathetic smile. Anna sniffled.

"I  _know_  I love you, Elsa," Anna responded. She wasn't sure what kind of love that was anymore, but clear as day, it was there. She could lie to herself, but right now, in this moment, she refused to lie to Elsa. Still, there was a mission to maintain. "But you belong with Kristoff. Okay? I just wish-"

But whatever she wished was cut off as Elsa surged forward, pressing their lips together one last time. Anna, who had been holding the future of her whole family on her shoulders, crumpled under the crushing weight. Desperation fueled her lips as they savored Elsa's. A thousand decisions which may have doomed them all drew a fierce tremble from her hands, and she clung to the only support she had.

A guttural sob rolled up Anna's throat, which she quashed into a desperate whimper. Her knees buckled. She didn't even feel when she sank to the steps, nor when strong, familiar arms encircled her. All she felt was the absence of lips on her own — and in that moment, her tears stopped.

"You've… you've got somewhere to be, huh?" Elsa's eyes were bright and wide as she brushed her thumbs along Anna's wet cheeks. A meek nod followed, and Elsa pressed a kiss to each rosy cheek. "I'll see you again. Like, in the future?"

Despite everything, Anna barked out a hoarse laugh before refocusing on Elsa's perfect features.  _'I really want to remember_ this _Elsa_ _…_ _so I might as well do this right.'_  So Anna claimed Elsa's now trembling lips. The smell, the taste, and the weight of the body on hers, committing each to memory. The kiss was harder than before but also more brief; she couldn't draw it out or she'd never make it.

When they finally parted, Elsa let out a wet laugh and whispered, "If it ever  _is_  the right time, for you and me… you'll know where to find me."

"Yeah. But I think Kristoff is going to take great care of you. I can't believe how chill he's being about this."

"Oh, we talked about it already," Elsa admitted, cheeks burning. "Um, I had to tell him the whole story of how Hans got to me in the first place. He knows what you and I had is… special. Different, and a separate thing."

"A separate thing…" Anna could live with that. Maybe it would be painful, but she could live with thinking of this as 'separate'; not part of her own time, her own life. Whether or not it was accurate, it could help her let go.

Then her watch did beep. She glanced down at it, and then up at her parents. "I, um… have a ride to catch. Doc – I mean, my uncle – is so overprotective sometimes, y'know?"

"Thank you so much," Kristoff told her again, waving. He looked distinctly ruffled by having watched them kiss, but to his credit, he wasn't quite perving on them the way she would expect a 'birdwatcher' to be. Maybe everything he had been through had changed that within him.

"For everything," Elsa added, squeezing both of Anna's hands. "I'll never forget you, Tori.  _Never_."

There weren't any other words. At least, none that Anna could think of. So she merely gave the hands one last squeeze back, then took off running across the lawn toward the front entrance to the school. The cold blades of grass tickled her soles, the wind ruined her ornate bun… and she felt alive and free. Whole. Happy.

~ o ~

All the way to the street where they had the 'weather experiment' set up, Anna struggled and rolled around in Doc's back seat to get out of her dress and into the clothes she had arrived in. Thanking the stars that her regular shoes were back there, she finished off by pulling them on, and felt relieved to be back in her jeans and tee. Even if the make-up and sophisticated hairstyle looked a little odd with the casual outfit, there just wasn't time.

But she did pack the dress, wrapping it carefully around Elsa's mixtape. Neither of those things would exist in 1985 if she didn't time travel; taking them out of the timeline was helping to preserve it, not causing further disaster.

"Alright," Doc sighed as they hopped out and approached the DeLorean where it lay beneath a tarp. "Now you remember the plan, don't you? Need a refresher?"

"Uhh…" Anna blanked briefly, her mind still stuck on everything that had happened that night. A sudden rumble in the sky had her moving a little faster than perhaps she would have otherwise. "Maybe you should go over it again. Just to be sure."

Doc squinted at her, but seemed to take her words at face-value when he replied, "I've marked a spot way over there." He pointed a few blocks east of the clock tower, along the main road. "And I've added a small alarm clock to the dash. As soon as it rings, you floor it, getting up to 88 miles per hour and holding it steady. As soon as the antenna makes contact with the cable – which will happen immediately succeeding the lighting strike – you'll be whisked off, safe and sound, back into 2015."

Anna nodded. "Well, I guess I better get going…" she said softly. A larger crackle, and the sky lit up briefly. Doc smiled, and Anna had a sudden urge to hug the old man. She didn't think she had hugged this past version of him before, but now it seemed appropriate. "Thanks, Doc. For everything."

He patted her back, a little awkward – she hadn't expected anything less. "It's been a pleasure, my dear. I'm sure the knowledge of my success will keep me motivated for years, too. Why, who knows what I'll invent after this!"

"Wait, Doc, about that-"

This time, the thunder was much closer, and lasted much longer. Anna could no longer talk – now she had to yell to be heard. The wind whipped up around their heads, making her hair crazier than usual.

"In 2015, something happens! You really gotta-"

"NO TIME!" he was shouting, cupping his ear with one hand and waving toward the DeLorean with the other. "Go! We have a timetable to keep!"

Gritting her teeth, she saluted him briefly and said, "See you in thirty years!" Then took off to run and hop into the car, peeling out and heading down the road toward the large stripe of white paint the Doc had laid down to mark where she should begin.

"Damn it, Doc," she hissed under her breath, manoeuvring into position. "Why are you so hard-headed? I guess my plan B will have to be enough." Though she also found herself wishing that she didn't have to make multiple plans about everything.

Just about the time the clock rang, she was having second thoughts. Why couldn't she stay in 1985? Sure, her band and Punz were waiting for her in the future, but a real, meaningful relationship with her parents was thriving today, in  _this_  era. She might never have that again if she abandoned it. But she knew Doc was right; much as she hated to admit it, staying in the past and leaving everything up in the air was almost guaranteed to destroy the universe.

Not to mention that it would probably destroy the people in the future. She'd be one of those disappearing kids, except this time, there would never be a body. Maybe Elsa's alcoholism would get even worse.

Painfully, Anna forced those thoughts away. It was pointless. She was going back to 2015. To be with her actual family, as broken and fragmented as they were. This version of Elsa and Kristoff didn't need her anymore. The other version did. And so did that Doc…

Eyes falling to the console with all the dates displayed upon it, Anna noticed that he'd planned to send her back at the same time she'd vanished. Like she'd never been gone at all. But what if… she went back a little early? Maybe ten minutes? That would surely be enough time to get to Doc before the nationalists without seriously damaging the timeline.

"Heh," she chuckled to herself. "This is some serious  _Prisoner of Azkaban_  shit."

Just then, the buzzer went off. No sooner had she punched in the new time coordinates than she floored it, racing for the end of the street. She had no more time to waste.

But when she got closer to the courthouse, she saw something distressing: Doc flying down from the clock at speed, attached to the wire as though it were a flying fox. What the hell was he doing?! But as she looked on in utter confusion, watching him struggling with the wires as they hooked up to the lamppost-

The sky flashed. The lightning struck.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment. All ten fingers clamped down around the steering wheel as Anna accelerated toward the thick cable strung between the lampposts, sparks erupting all around the DeLorean. The flux capacitor was ready and only needed the nuclear reaction to power the time-jump. And it was getting it; no sooner had Doc connected two wires at the last possible moment was he blown back from the force of the electricity racing through the connection into a shrub.

Anna McFly squeezed her eyes shut, praying she made it home.

* * *

_NOT The End!_

_To Be Continued  
In  
FRACTAL THE FUTURE, Part II_ _!_


End file.
